Chairperson and hon members, the introduction of this amending Bill must be seen against the broader transformation programme that the ANC envisages in dealing with land and its registration, and the application of property rights. How this land is administered and what legislative prescripts should be in place to deal with disputes, is addressed in the amending Bill before us today. What is required is a consistent and coherent legislation transformation tool that will both address the constitutional requirements and the policy objectives of the ANC-led government.
In doing this, the need to transform historical systems that were designed under the previous political regime, whose ideological and philosophical orientation does not reflect the building of a national democratic society, means that there is a range of structural systematic and process matters that require major transformation. This is the truth of the amending Bill. The process of administering systems, whose designs do not reflect the values of the new South Africa, has brought with it the need for specific changes to existing legislation. Coupled with this, is the campaign of the ANC to rule out corruption where we find it within any given system of government. This means, in particular, that when dealing with matters of property, property rights and its regulation, we have to ensure that we have the requisite legislation and regulations that will inculcate the values that we are trying to espouse in our society.
This means that legislation will become one of the first areas we need to visit in order to strengthen our systems and instill a culture that is commensurate with the national democratic society that we are building.
The Deeds Registries Amendment Bill thus proposes certain amendments to the Deeds Registries Act, Act 47 of 1937, to improve the application and implementation of the Act. Section 4(1) (b) of the Act provides for the rectification of an error in the name of a person or description of a property mentioned in this document. The proposed amendment aims to afford the Registrar of Deeds the power to use discretion with regard to the lodgement, or not, of all the relevant deeds documents.
Section 38 of the Act provides for the issuing of certificates for registered titles to substitute lost or destroyed title deeds. The proposed amendment also seeks to provide for the issuing of the certificates of registered titles in instances where title deeds become incomplete or unserviceable.
Section 44(1) of the Act refers to the Land Survey Act, Act 9 of 1927, which was repealed by the Land Survey Act, Act 8 of 1997. A proposed amendment seeks to reflect a reference to the correct Land Survey Act.
The heading to section 48 of the Act still refers to Rand Township and is outdated. The substitution of the heading is necessary to provide legal certainty with regard to which deeds registry has jurisdiction for the purposes of section 48. This is especially necessary since there are two deeds registries located within the Gauteng province.
A section of the Act makes reference to liquidators or trustees appointed under the Agricultural Credit Act, Act 28 of 1966, which has repealed the Agricultural Debt Management Act, Act 45 of 2001. The proposed amendment aims to rectify the situation.
Section 93(1)(c) deals with the upgrading of title deeds in respect of the change of surnames of women. The proposed amendment, which provides for double-barrel surnames, is necessary in order to bring it into line with section 26 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, Act 51 of 1992. The amendment of the definition of Deeds Registry, proposed in clause 7 of the Bill, is consequential to the promulgation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002, which provides for the discontinuation of the registration of mineral rights in a deeds registry.
In conclusion, the amendment assists in addressing the broader transformation programme of the ANC government, what it envisages in dealing with fixed property, its registration and property rights, and how this is administered. Thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Bill read a second time.