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Race, land and reform: why SA is changing its deeds process

Race, land and reform: why SA is changing its deeds process
Yeshiel Panchia
By Yeshiel Panchia
6 Apr 2025
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As from Saturday, 5 April 2025, property buyers are required to provide personal information such as gender, race and nationality so the Deeds Office can track demographics of land ownership.

The Deeds Office will begin requiring land holders, owners and recipients of a land transfer to provide demographic data regarding their race, gender, citizenship and nationality as of Saturday, 5 April 2025, in a stated effort to collect greater statistical data regarding homeownership trends in South Africa.

First promulgated in the Chief Registrar’s Circular No 3 of 2025, in which Amendment 18 of the Deeds Registries Act of 1937 makes provision for the collection of the data, the circular explicitly states that this is for the purposes of “statistical and land audit purposes only”.

While circulars issued by the Chief Registrar of the Deeds Office are typically administrative in nature, this amendment intersects with broader questions around equitable land ownership, access to property and South Africa’s national transformation trajectory.

According to the amended regulation, Form LLL must now be submitted for all deeds and mortgage bond lodgements, whether by natural persons, juristic entities or other legal structures. The form, which captures race, gender, citizenship, nationality and permanent residence status, must  be signed by the transferee, registered owner or, where applicable, by an attorney, conveyancer, notary public or statutory officer on the basis of information received.

In its response to questions from Daily Maverick, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development confirmed that the circular is accurate.

“It was issued as a result of the amendment of the regulations to the Deeds Registries Act … published under Government Notice No 5948 in Government Gazette No 52219 dated 5 March 2025. The said regulations shall be effective from 5 April 2025,” it said.

The department also confirmed that the circular provides for the completion of a form collecting data on race, gender, citizenship and nationality of landowners in South Africa, and verified that the form LLL currently in circulation is an authentic representation of the official version.

“The amendments … were discussed at the Deeds Registries Regulations Board, which, in terms of the Deeds Registries Act, made a recommendation to the Minister for approval thereof,” the department said.

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Demographic collection and digitisation


From Saturday, 5 April 2025, form LLL will be a mandatory component of all lodgements pertaining to land, mortgage and notarial bond registration transactions. The form must be stapled to the inside of the lodgement cover and will be returned to the relevant legal practitioner after the information is captured.

While names, ID numbers, and registration details will remain in the public deed, demographic fields such as race and gender are excluded from the deed itself and are to be used exclusively for internal statistical and audit purposes.

In cases where the applicant is not a natural person, the form requires the demographic details of the majority shareholders, members or beneficiaries to be disclosed. The format applies equally to South African citizens, foreign passport holders and foreign-registered entities.

Why this change matters



  • The department has emphasised that the intent is to provide the government with a clearer picture of land ownership demographics in South Africa – especially in the context of ongoing transformation policies, foreign ownership assessments and land reform initiatives.

  • Proponents might see the regulation as a step towards better-informed policy making. Critics, however, might raise questions about the classification of race in official systems or about whether the regulation achieves its intended redress outcomes in the absence of accompanying legislative reforms.

  • The integration of demographic data collection into the deeds registration process – albeit for non-public statistical use – marks a notable shift in how South Africa monitors and records land ownership patterns.



The regulation forms part of a broader data collection and digitisation process currently under way through the Electronic Deeds Registration System (e-DRS), as governed by the Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Act, 2019. This system is designed to modernise and centralise deeds processing nationally. DM

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