ELECTRONIC DEEDS REGISTRATION SYSTEMS BILL, 2017 PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE 17 APRIL 2018 SECRET

Introduction Deeds are currently registered in terms of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act 47 of 1937) and the Sectional Titles Act, 1986 (Act 95 of 1986). All procedures relating to the preparation, lodgement, examination and registration of deeds in terms of the DRA and STA take place manually and is in paper format.

Introduction cont. The EDRS Bill seeks to provide legislation that is required for the development of an electronic deeds registration system (e-DRS). The e-DRS will provide, amongst other things, for the registration of large volumes of deeds effectively; improved turn-around times for providing registered deeds and documents to clients; country wide access to deeds registration services; enhanced accuracy of examination and registration; and security features including confidentiality, non-repudiation, integrity and availability.

Objectives Main objectives of the EDRS Bill are to: facilitate the development of an electronic deeds registration system in order to promote the registration of large volumes of deeds as necessitated by government’s land reform initiatives; and expedite the registration of deeds by decreasing the time required for the deeds registration process.

Clause 1 Provides for definitions which aim to align the provisions of the Act with that of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002. These include, amongst others, the following: 'Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002'' means the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended from time to time.

Clause 1 cont. "signature" in respect of any act performed in terms of the DRA and STA by a conveyancer, statutory officer or registrar in attesting his or her signature to a deed or document or a scanned image of a deed or document, means an advanced electronic signature as defined in section 1 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002.

Clause 2 Clause 2 provides for the development, establishment and maintenance of the e-DRS. It provides for the Chief Registrar of Deeds (CRD) to develop, establish and maintain the e-DRS using information and communications technologies for the preparation, lodgement, execution, registration and storing of deeds. It also provides for the CRD to prescribe functional requirements and technical specifications for the e-DRS.

Clauses 3 and 4 Clause 3 provides for the validity of deeds. It provides that a deed generated, registered and executed electronically is deemed to be the original and valid record. Clause 4 provides for the authorisation of users of the e-DRS in so far as such users must be registered in the manner as may be prescribed by regulation.

Clause 5 Clause 5 provides for the Minister to make regulations on recommendation by the Regulations Board for amongst others: procedure for electronic lodgement; procedure for electronic record storing; and the manner of identification of persons who may prepare, execute, lodge, register deeds in a deeds registry.

Clause 6-traditional provisions Clause 6 provides that the Registrar must continue with the registration, execution and filing of deeds as prescribed by the DRA / STA until the e-DRS is in place. It furthermore provides for a dual system of registration in so far the CRD may issue directives for the continuation of the preparation, lodgement and registration of deeds manually, as prescribed by the DRA / STA, whereupon a conveyancer may either use the manual system or the e-DRS, until such period as may be determined by the CRD.

Clause 7 Clause 7 (1) provides for the EDRS Bill to come into operation on a date to be fixed by the President by proclamation in the Gazette. Clause 7(2) provides for the President to set different dates for the coming into operation of the different provisions of the Act. Clause 7(3) provides for the President to set different dates for the coming into operation of any or certain of the provisions of this Act for the different deeds registries.

Stakeholder consultation Deeds Registries Regulations Board; Law Society of South Africa; Registrars of Deeds; Banking Association South Africa. South African Revenue Service; Departments of Home Affairs, Public Works, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements, Telecommunication and Postal Services; Published for comment on 15 March 2017 (Notice 216 of 2017 in GG 40686).

Socio-economic impact assessment DPME granted permission to proceed with submission of the EDRS Bill to cabinet on 8 September 2016. Summary of the main findings of the SEIA Report: The options that were proposed for consideration were: (a) Introduction of an e-DRS;(b) Do nothing; or (c) Introduction of a hybrid electronic-manual deeds system.

Socio-economic impact assessment cont. Based on the findings of the SEIAS, the DRDLR supports Option (a) in order to provide for a deeds registration system to be able to handle the registration of large volumes of deeds as required by the Government’s land reform initiatives. Thank you