A quick-reference guide to every piece of conveyancing jargon you are likely to meet between signing an Offer to Purchase and registration at the Deeds Office. Written and maintained by Martin Kotze, an admitted attorney and conveyancer practising from Pretoria since 2014.
A
2 terms- Alienation of Land Act#
- The 1981 statute (Act 68 of 1981) whose section 2(1) requires every sale of immovable property in South Africa to be reduced to writing and signed by both parties or their duly authorised agents — verbal sales are unenforceable.
- Antenuptial Contract (ANC)#
- A pre-marriage contract registered with the Deeds Office that excludes the default community of property regime; the matrimonial regime recorded in an ANC affects each spouse’s capacity to buy, sell or mortgage property.
B
4 terms- Beneficial Occupation#
- Occupation of the property by the buyer (or continued occupation by the seller) before registration of transfer, usually in exchange for occupational rent agreed in the Offer to Purchase.
- Body Corporate#
- The statutory juristic person made up of all owners in a sectional title scheme, responsible for administering common property and levying contributions under the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act.
- Bond Attorney#
- The conveyancer nominated by the buyer’s bank to register the new mortgage bond simultaneously with the transfer — usually a different firm from the transferring attorney.
- Bond Cancellation Attorney#
- The conveyancer appointed by the seller’s existing bondholder to cancel that bond at the Deeds Office on the same day the transfer is registered.
C
7 terms- Capital Gains Tax (CGT)#
- A tax paid by the seller on the gain realised between the property’s base cost and the selling price; natural persons enjoy a primary residence exclusion of the first R3 million of gain (effective 1 March 2026; up from R2 million, based on when the sale agreement becomes unconditional), in addition to an annual CGT exclusion of R50,000 (also effective 1 March 2026).
- Clearance Certificate (Levies)#
- A certificate issued by the body corporate of a sectional title scheme (or homeowners’ association) confirming that all levies, special levies and penalties have been settled, required before transfer can be registered.
- Clearance Certificate (Rates)#
- The figures certificate issued by the local municipality under section 118 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, confirming that rates and service charges are paid up; no transfer can be registered without it.
- Common Property#
- In a sectional title scheme, the land and buildings not forming part of any section — gardens, passages, lifts, roofs — owned jointly by all section owners in undivided shares.
- Consumer Protection Act (CPA)#
- Act 68 of 2008, which limits the reach of the voetstoots clause where the seller is selling in the ordinary course of business and imposes implied warranties of quality on such sellers.
- Conveyancer#
- An admitted attorney who has passed the separate conveyancing exam of the Legal Practice Council and is authorised to sign deeds and documents lodged at the Deeds Office.
- Cost of Acquisition#
- The base cost used to calculate capital gains tax — typically the original purchase price plus transfer duty, conveyancing fees, and capital improvements made during ownership.
D
4 terms- Deed of Sale#
- Another name for the signed Offer to Purchase once accepted by both parties — the written contract of sale required by the Alienation of Land Act.
- Deed of Transfer#
- The formal document registered at the Deeds Office that passes ownership of immovable property from seller to buyer; once registered it becomes the new owner’s title deed.
- Deeds Office#
- The government registry, established under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, where all rights in land are recorded. Property in Gauteng is registered at the Pretoria Deeds Office.
- Domicilium Citandi et Executandi#
- A Latin term meaning the chosen address at which a party agrees to accept service of legal process and formal notices — recorded in the Offer to Purchase and in the Power of Attorney.
E
3 terms- Electronic Deeds Registration (e-DRS)#
- The phased roll-out of electronic lodgement and registration of deeds by the Chief Registrar under the Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Act 19 of 2019, replacing paper-based lodgement.
- Endowment#
- A largely historical duty on the registration of property in community of property estates — still occasionally encountered in older deeds, but not levied on ordinary modern transfers.
- Erf#
- The Afrikaans-derived land-registry term for a piece of land shown on a general plan or diagram — the primary unit of freehold ownership in South African towns and suburbs.
F
1 term- FICA#
- The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001, which obliges conveyancers (as accountable institutions) to verify every client’s identity, address, and source of funds before acting on their behalf.
G
1 term- Guarantee#
- An irrevocable written undertaking — usually from the buyer’s bank — delivered to the transferring attorney, promising that the bond proceeds will be paid over on the day the transfer is registered.
H
2 terms- HOA Consent#
- A written consent from a homeowners’ association confirming that the owner’s levies are paid and that the association has no objection to the transfer — commonly required as a condition of title in estate developments.
- Hypothecation#
- The pledging of immovable property as security for a debt without giving up possession; in practice, this is what happens when a mortgage bond is registered over the property.
I
1 term- Immovable Property#
- Land and anything permanently attached to it — including buildings, fixtures, and real rights in land — as distinct from movable property such as furniture or vehicles.
K
1 term- Kustingsbrief#
- A mortgage bond registered in favour of the seller, securing a portion of the purchase price that the buyer has been permitted to leave outstanding — a form of seller financing registered against the property.
L
1 term- Lodgement#
- The physical (or electronic) delivery of the signed transfer and bond documents to the Deeds Office, which starts the registration clock and queues the matter for examination.
M
1 term- Mortgage Bond#
- A real right registered over immovable property as security for a loan — commonly granted in favour of a bank that has financed the purchase, and registered simultaneously with the transfer.
N
1 term- Notarial Tie Agreement#
- A notarially executed and registered agreement that ties two or more erven together so that they may not be sold, transferred or mortgaged separately — usually imposed where one erf is built over two stands.
O
2 terms- Occupational Rent#
- Rent payable by the buyer for occupying the property before registration of transfer, or by the seller who remains in occupation after registration — the rate is agreed in the Offer to Purchase.
- Offer to Purchase (OTP)#
- The written sale agreement for immovable property, required by section 2(1) of the Alienation of Land Act; once signed by both parties and any suspensive conditions are met, it becomes the enforceable contract of sale.
P
2 terms- Power of Attorney to Pass Transfer#
- The seller’s written and witnessed authorisation empowering the named conveyancer to appear before the Registrar of Deeds and pass transfer of the property on the seller’s behalf.
- Prescription#
- The acquisition of ownership of immovable property by open, peaceful and uninterrupted possession as though one were the owner for an unbroken period of thirty years under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969.
R
3 terms- Rates Clearance Figures#
- The amount the municipality certifies must be paid — usually including several months of rates in advance — before it will issue the section 118 Rates Clearance Certificate.
- Real Right#
- A right in a thing (such as ownership, a mortgage bond, a servitude or a usufruct) that is enforceable against the whole world, as opposed to a personal right which is only enforceable between contracting parties.
- Registrar of Deeds#
- The senior official appointed under the Deeds Registries Act who, by signing the deed, is the person who actually passes ownership from seller to buyer.
S
5 terms- Section 7C (trust anti-avoidance)#
- A South African Income Tax Act provision (s7C of Act 58 of 1962) that treats an interest-free or low-interest loan from a connected natural person to a trust — or to a company ≥20% owned by a connected trust — as giving rise to an annual deemed donation equal to the shortfall between the official rate of interest (7.75% as at 22 April 2026) and the rate actually charged. The deemed donation is subject to donations tax, though the donor’s annual R150,000 exemption can be applied against it. Cross-border loans to foreign trusts may, since 1 January 2025, trigger both s7C donations tax and section 31 transfer-pricing adjustments.
- Sectional Title#
- A form of ownership introduced by the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986, under which the owner holds a defined section of a building plus an undivided share of the common property in the scheme.
- Servitude#
- A limited real right registered over one property (the servient tenement) in favour of another property or person, such as a right of way, a right of aqueduct, or a servitude of habitation.
- Simultaneous Lodgement#
- The Deeds Office practice of lodging the transfer, new mortgage bond and bond cancellation together so that all three are examined as a linked batch and registered on the same day.
- Suspensive Condition#
- A condition written into the Offer to Purchase that must be fulfilled before the sale becomes unconditional — most commonly that the buyer must obtain bond approval within a fixed period.
T
4 terms- Title Deed#
- The current registered Deed of Transfer that reflects the registered owner of the property and all conditions, servitudes and bonds burdening it — available as a certified copy from the Deeds Office.
- Transfer Duty#
- The tax payable to SARS by the buyer on the acquisition of immovable property — currently exempt below R1,210,000 and scaling up to 13% on the portion of the price above R13.3 million, subject to annual budget revision.
- Transfer Duty Receipt#
- The electronic receipt (or exemption certificate) issued by SARS once transfer duty is paid or declared exempt — the Deeds Office will not register a transfer without it lodged with the documents.
- Transferring Attorney#
- The conveyancer who prepares and signs the Deed of Transfer and passes transfer at the Deeds Office — by long-standing convention nominated by the seller in the Offer to Purchase.
U
1 term- Usufruct#
- A limited real right registered against property giving the holder the right to use and enjoy it, and to take its fruits, during their lifetime — often reserved by a parent selling to a child.
V
2 terms- VAT on Property#
- Value-Added Tax at 15% charged on the supply of fixed property by a VAT-registered seller (typically a developer) in the course of their enterprise; transfer duty does not apply to a VAT transaction.
- Voetstoots#
- An Afrikaans word meaning “with its flaws” — a contractual clause under which the buyer takes the property as it stands, subject to the seller’s duty to disclose known latent defects and the limits imposed by the Consumer Protection Act.
Z
1 term- Zoning#
- The land-use category assigned to a property under the municipal town-planning scheme, which controls what may lawfully be built on or done with the property — residential, business, industrial, or agricultural.
Don’t see a term? Email martin@mjkinc.co.za and it will be added to the next revision.