| (1) | Whenever any land has, under the authority of any law, been expropriated by, and whenever the ownership of any land has by statute been vested in, the State, any public or local authority or any corporate body or any association of persons, the registrar shall, upon lodgment with him of a deed of transfer in the prescribed form prepared by a conveyancer in favour of the transferee, execute the same, and if the land is hypothecated, he shall endorse the fact of such transfer on the registry duplicate of the bond, and if the original bond is at any time lodged in his office for any purpose except cancellation, he shall make a similar endorsement thereon: Provided that no such transfer shall prejudice any claim to compensation which any owner or other person may have in respect of the change of ownership of such land: Provided further that no such deed of transfer shall be registered in favour of the State if transfer of the land has already been registered in favour of the State by an endorsement as contemplated in the second proviso to section 16. |
[Section 31(1) substituted by section 10 of Act No. 27 of 1982]
| (a) | The transferee shall produce the title deed of such land to the registrar together with the aforesaid deed of transfer, and the registrar shall thereupon endorse the transfer on such title deed. |
| (b) | Failing the production of such title deed, the transferee shall produce to the registrar an affidavit to the satisfaction of the registrar that he has been unable to obtain possession of the title deed and the registrar shall thereupon endorse such transfer on the registry duplicate of the title deed, and if the original title deed is at any time lodged in his office for any purpose, he shall make a similar endorsement thereon. |
[Section 31(2) substituted by section 3 of Act No. 61 of 1969]
| (3) | [Section 31(3) deleted by section 3 of Act No. 61 of 1969] |
| (a) | The registrar shall not execute the said deed of transfer unless a certificate has been furnished to him by the transferee referred to in subsection (1), to the effect that the provisions of any law in connection with the change of ownership in the land in consequence of expropriation or vesting, have been complied with. |
| (b) | The said deed of transfer shall be registered subject to all existing conditions affecting the land in question which have not been expropriated or vested in the transferee. |
| (5) | No deed by the expropriating authority purporting to transfer such land or to create or deal with any real right therein shall be registered in a deeds registry until transfer thereof has been passed in accordance with subsection (1), or the relevant title deed has been endorsed in favour of the State as contemplated in the second proviso to section 16. |
[Section 31(5) substituted by section 10 of Act No. 27 of 1982]
| (a) | Immediately after any land has been expropriated the expropriating authority shall lodge with the registrar a certified copy of the notice of expropriation, two copies of the relevant expropriation plan of the land in question, and a certificate describing the land and stating the name, number and administrative district thereof, as well as the full names and surname of the registered owner and the number (consisting of the serial and year number) of the title deed, and the registrar shall cause a note of the expropriation to be made in his registers, and if at any time the original of the title deed is lodged in his registry for any purpose, or application is made for the issue of a certified copy thereof, he shall cause an appropriate note to be endorsed thereon as well as on the office copy thereof and a copy of the expropriation plan to be annexed thereto as well as to the office copy thereof: Provided that the aforementioned expropriation plans shall be dispensed with where the whole of a piece of land has been expropriated. |
| (b) | The existence of any endorsement referred to in paragraph (a), shall not debar the registered owner of the land in question from transferring or otherwise dealing with that land and upon registration of a transfer deed in favour of the transferee in pursuance of the expropriation, and any such endorsement shall lapse: Provided that where the entire extent of a piece of land recognized as a separate entity in a deeds registry has been expropriated, the registered owner of the said land shall be debarred from transferring it or otherwise dealing therewith except to effect registration of a transfer deed in favour of the transferee in pursuance of the expropriation. |
| (7) | Where any land has been expropriated and formal transfer of such land to the transferee has not been effected, the registrar shall, on written application by the transferee and the owner, cancel any endorsement made in connection with the expropriation in his registers or on the title deed of the land, and thereupon the land so expropriated shall vest in such owner. |
| (8) | [Section 31(8) repealed by section 95 of Act No. 63 of 1975] |
[Section 31 substituted by section 11 of Act No. 87 of 1965]
