| (a) | take charge of and, except as provided in subsection (2) or (3), preserve or cause to be preserved all records which were prior to the commencement of this Act, or may become after such commencement, records of any deeds registry in respect of which he has been appointed: Provided that the registrar may destroy or otherwise dispose of any record as prescribed which has been cancelled in terms of this subsection or any record in connection with a caveat that has expired in terms of section 17(3), 18B or 127A of the Insolvency Act, 1936 (Act No. 24 of 1936); |
[Section 3(1)(a) substituted by section 9 of Act No. 122 of 1993]
| (b) | examine all deeds or other documents submitted to him for execution or registration, and after examination reject any such deed or other document the execution or registration of which is not permitted by this Act or by any other law, or to the execution or registration of which any other valid objection exists: Provided that such deed or document need not be examined in its entirety before being rejected; |
| (c) | register grants or leases of land lawfully issued by the Government or grants issued by any other competent authority, and register amendments, renewals and cancellations of such leases, and releases of any part of the property leased; |
| (d) | attest or execute and register deeds of transfer of land, and execute and register certificates of title to land; |
| (d)bis | register deeds of transfer of initial ownership as contemplated in section 62 of the Development Facilitation Act, 1995; |
[Section 3(1)(d)bis inserted by section 68 of Act No. 67 of 1995]
| (f) | register cessions (including cessions made as security) of registered mortgage bonds, and register cancellations of such cessions if made as security; |
| (g) | register cancellations of registered mortgage bonds, releases of any part of the property hypothecated thereby or of all such property if the debt is further secured by a collateral bond, releases of any joint debtor or of any surety in respect of any such bond, the substitution of another person for a debtor in respect of any such bond, reductions of cover in respect of any such bond intended to secure future debts, and part payments of the capital amount due in respect of any such bond other than a bond intended to secure future debts; |
| (h) | register waivers of preference in respect of registered mortgage bonds and notarial bonds with regard to the whole or any part of the property hypothecated thereby in favour of other such bonds whether registered or about to be registered; |
| (i) | register waivers of preference in respect of registered real rights in land, in favour of mortgage bonds, whether registered or about to be registered; |
| (j) | register notarial bonds, and cancellations and cessions thereof (including cessions made as security) and cancellations of such cessions if made as security; |
| (j)bis | register releases of any part of the property hypothecated by any registered notarial bond or of all such property if the debt is further secured by a collateral bond, releases of any joint debtor or of any surety in respect of any such bond, reductions of cover in respect of any such bond intended to secure future debts, and part payments in respect of the capital amount due in respect of any such bond other than a bond intended to secure future debts; |
| (k) | register antenuptial contracts, including orders under section 20, and contracts contemplated in section 21, of the Matrimonial Property Act, 1984, and register such notarial deeds having reference to persons and property within the area served by the registry in question as are required or permitted by law to be registered; |
[Section 3(1)(k) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 11 of 1996]
| (l) | [Section 3(1)(l) repealed by section 53 of Act No. 24 of 2003] |
| (m) | [Section 3(1)(m) repealed by section 53 of Act No. 24 of 2003] |
| (n) | [Section 3(1)(n) repealed by section 53 of Act No. 24 of 2003] |
| (o) | register any servitude, whether personal or praedial, and record the modification or extinction of any registered servitude; |
| (p) | register notarial leases, subleases, and cessions of leases or of subleases, of land, and notarial cessions of underhand leases or subleases of land, which have been registered prior to the commencement of this Act, and notarial amendments of such leases and subleases, and notarial renewals and notarial cancellations of such leases and subleases and notarial releases of any part of the property leased; |
| (p)bis | despite the repeal of the regulations, proclamations and by-laws made under sections 25(1), 30(2) and 30A(1) of the Black Administration Act, 1927 (Act No. 38 of 1927), by the Repeal of the Black Administration Act and Amendment of Certain Laws Act, 2005 (Act No. 28 of 2005)— |
| (i) | continue to register any registrable transaction concerning a right originally acquired in terms of or under the Black Administration Act, 1927, in accordance with the legislation which created that right; and |
| (ii) | exercise all the other powers and perform all the other duties vested in or imposed upon a Chief Commissioner or registration officer by or under the Black Administration Act, 1927; |
[Section 3(1)(p)bis inserted by section 1 of Act No. 5 of 2006]
| (q) | [Section 3(1)(q) repealed by section 53 of Act No. 24 of 2003] |
| (r) | register any real right, not specifically referred to in this subsection, and any cession, modification or extinction of any such registered right; |
| (s) | register against any registered mortgage or notarial bond any agreement entered into by the mortgagor and the holder of that bond, whereby any terms of that bond, with the exception of terms relating to the relevant cause of debt, the mortgaged security or the amount of the debt secured by the bond, have been varied; |
[Section 3 (1)(s) substituted by section 3 of Act No. 27 of 1982]
| (t) | register general plans of erven or of subdivisions of land, open registers of the erven or subdivisions of land shown on such general plans, and record the conditions upon which the erven or subdivisions have been laid out or established; |
[Section 3(1)(t) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 92 of 1978]
| (u) | register powers of attorney whereby the agents named therein are authorized to act generally for the principals granting such powers, or to carry out a series of acts or transactions registrable in a deeds registry, and register copies of such powers registered in another deeds registry, which have been certified by the registrar thereof, or which have been issued for the purpose of being acted upon in a deeds registry by a Master or registrar of the Supreme Court of South Africa or a registrar of mining titles or a mining commissioner in his capacity as a registration officer; |
| (v) | make, in connection with the registration of any deed or other document, or in compliance with the requirements of any law, such endorsements on any registered deed or other document as may be necessary to give effect to such registration or to the objects of such law; |
| (w) | record all notices, returns, statements, or orders of court lodged with him in terms of any law; |
| (x) | remove from his records, with the approval of the Master and after the lapse of ten years from the date of entry in such records, any entry made therein, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, in pursuance of the transmission to him of a notice of liquidation or an order of liquidation or sequestration; |
[Section 3(1)(x) substituted by section 2 of Act No. 14 of 1993]
| (y) | keep, whether by means of a computer or in any other manner or by means of a computer and in any other manner, such registers containing such particulars as are necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act or any other law and of maintaining an efficient system of registration calculated to afford security of title and ready reference to any registered deed, |
[Section 3(1)(y) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 92 of 1978]
and generally the registrar shall discharge all such duties as by law may or are to be discharged by a registrar of deeds or as are necessary to give effect to the provisions of this Act: Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed as imposing upon the registrar at Johannesburg the duty of registering any deed or other document which he would not have registered if this Act had not been passed.
(2)
| (a) | If the registrar concerned is satisfied that any record referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) has become so dilapidated or has deteriorated to such an extent that it requires urgent restoration for the preservation thereof, he may transfer such record to the Director of Archives for restoration and preservation. |
| (b) | The Director of Archives shall— |
| (i) | forthwith furnish the registrar concerned with so many photographic copies of any record received for restoration and preservation as the registrar may require; |
| (ii) | as soon as any record has been restored for preservation, furnish the registrar concerned with so many photographic copies thereof as the registrar may require; |
| (iii) | preserve any record restored under this subsection in the archives depot at the seat of the provincial administration within the territorial limits of which the deeds registry in question is situate. |
| (c) | Any photographic copy (certified by the Director of Archives or any person designated by him for the purpose) of any record furnished under this subsection by the Director of Archives to a registrar of deeds shall, for the purposes of a deeds registry, be deemed to be the original record. |
| (3) | The registrar concerned may reproduce or cause to be reproduced any record referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) by means of microfilming or any other process which in his opinion accurately reproduces any such record in such manner that any such reproduction forms a durable medium for reproducing and preserving any such record, and preserve or cause to be preserved such reproduction in lieu of such record. |
[Section 3(3) inserted by section 1 of Act No. 41 of 1977]
| (4) | A reproduction referred to in subsection (3) shall, for the purposes of a deeds registry, be deemed to be the original record, and a copy obtained by means of such reproduction and which has been certified by the registrar as a true copy of such reproduction shall be admissible in evidence and shall have all the effects of the original record concerned. |
[Section 3(4) inserted by section 1 of Act No. 41 of 1977]
[Section 3 substituted by section 2 of Act No. 87 of 1965]
