Property Practitioners Act, 2019 (Act No. 22 of 2019) > Chapter 1 : Definitions, Application, Objects and Establishment of Authority

In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates—

‘‘accounting records’’—

(a)

means information in written or electronic form concerning the trust accounts of the property practitioner as required in terms of this Act, including but not limited to, records of all transactions involving trust monies, general and subsidiary ledgers and other documents and books used in the administration of the trust accounts; and

(b)

in relation to the property practitioner’s business as such, means information in written or electronic form concerning the financial affairs of the business as required in terms of this Act or any other Act that may be applicable to the business of the property practitioner, including but not limited to, records of assets, liabilities, income and expenses, general and subsidiary ledgers and other documents and books used in the preparation of financial statements of the business;

‘‘advertise’’

for the purposes of this definition does not include advertising in compliance with the provisions of any other law;

‘‘audit’’

has the meaning ascribed to it in the Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act No. 26 of 2005);

‘‘auditor’’

means an individual or firm registered in terms of section 37 or 38 of the Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act No. 26 of 2005);

‘‘Authority’’

means the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority established in terms of section 5;

‘‘Board’’

means the Board of Authority contemplated in Chapter 2;

‘‘candidate property practitioner’’

means a person who has not yet met all the qualification or experience required as prescribed, to practise as a property practitioner and who is undergoing training under the supervision of a property practitioner, or a program created by the Authority;

‘‘CEO’’

means the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority appointed in terms of section 17;

‘‘Chairperson’’

means the Chairperson of the Board;

‘‘code of conduct’’

means the code of conduct prescribed in terms of section 61;

‘‘consumer’’

means a consumer as defined in section 1(a) or (c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008);

‘‘conveyancer’’

means a conveyancer as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act, 1979 (Act No. 53 of 1979);

‘‘days’’

means calendar days including Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays but excluding the period between 15 December to 15 January of the preceding year;

‘‘Department’’

means the national Department of Human Settlements;

‘‘Estate Agency Affairs Act’’

means the Estate Agency Affairs Act, 1976 (Act No. 112 of 1976);

‘‘Estate Agency Affairs Board’’

means the Estate Agency Affairs Board established by section 2 of the Estate Agency Affairs Act;

‘‘Fund’’

means the Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund contemplated in section 34;

‘‘Fidelity Fund certificate’’

means a Fidelity Fund certificate contemplated in section 47(1);

‘‘immediate family member’’

means a parent, child, brother or sister, or any person married to such a person, or a life partner of such a person;

‘‘inspector’’

means a person appointed in terms of section 24;

‘‘mandatory disclosure form’’

means the form referred to in section 67;

‘‘Minister’’

means the Minister of Human Settlements;

‘‘prescribe’’

means prescribe by regulation;

‘‘principal’’

means a property practitioner who is a director of a company, member of a close corporation, trustee of a trust, partner of a partnership or owner of sole proprietorship that operates as a property practitioner;

‘‘property’’

means immovable property, and any interest, right or duty associated with it as contemplated in section 2;

‘‘property practitioner’’—

(a)	means any natural or juristic person who or which for the acquisition of gain on his, her or its own account or in partnership, in any manner holds himself, herself or itself out as a person who or which, directly or indirectly, on the instructions of or on behalf of any other person—

(i)	by auction or otherwise sells, purchases, manages or publicly exhibits for sale property or any business undertaking or negotiates in connection therewith or canvasses or undertakes or offers to canvas a seller or purchaser in respect thereof;

(ii)	lets or hires or publicly exhibits for hire property or any business undertaking by electronic or any other means or negotiates in connection therewith or canvasses or undertakes or offers to canvass a lessee or lessor in respect thereof;

(iii)

collects or receives any monies payable on account of a lease of a property or a business undertaking;

(iv)

provides, procures, facilitates, secures or otherwise obtains or markets financing for or in connection with the management, sale or lease of a property or a business undertaking, including a provider of bridging finance and a bond broker, but excluding any person contemplated in the definition of ‘‘financial institution’’ in section 1 of the Financial Services Board Act, 1990 (Act No. 97 of 1990);

(v)

in any other way acts or provides services as intermediary or facilitator with the primary purpose to, or to attempt to effect the conclusion of an agreement to sell and purchase, or hire or let, as the case may be, a property or business undertaking, including, if performing the acts mentioned in this subparagraph, a home ownership association, but does not include—

(aa)	a person who does not do so in the ordinary course of business;

(bb)	where the person is a natural person and that person in the ordinary course of business offers a property for sale which belongs to him or her in his or her personal capacity;

(cc)	an attorney or candidate attorney as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act, 1979 (Act No. 53 of 1979); or

(dd)	a sheriff as defined in section 1 of the Sheriffs Act, 1986 (Act No. 90 of 1986), when he or she performs any functions contemplated in paragraph (a) of this definition, irrespective of whether or not he or she has been ordered by a court of law to do so; or

(vi)	renders any other service specified by the Minister on the recommendation of the Board from time to time by notice in the Gazette;

(b)	includes any person who sells, by auction or otherwise, or markets, promotes or advertises any part, unit or section of, or rights or shares, including time share and fractional ownership, in a property or property development;

(c)	includes any person who for remuneration manages a property on behalf of another;

(d)	includes a trust in respect of which the trustee, for the acquisition of gain on the account of the trust, directly or indirectly in any manner holds out that it is a business which, on the instruction of or on behalf of any other person, performs any act referred to in paragraph (a);

(e)	for the purposes of sections 34, 46, 48, 59, 60, 61 and 65 includes—

(i)	any director of a company or a member of a close corporation who is a property practitioner as defined in paragraph (a);

(ii)	any person who is employed by a property practitioner as envisaged in paragraph (a) and performs on his, her or its behalf any act referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iv), (v) or (vi) of that paragraph;

(iii)

any trustee of a trust which is a property practitioner as envisaged in paragraph (d);

(iv)	any person who is employed by a property practitioner as envisaged in paragraph (b) and performs on its behalf any act referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iv), (v) or (vi) of paragraph (a); and

(v)	any person who is employed by a property practitioner contemplated in paragraph (a) or (b) to manage, supervise or control the day-to-day operations of the business of that property practitioner;

(f)

includes any person who is employed by or renders services to an attorney or a professional company as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act, 1979, other than an attorney or candidate attorney, and whose duties consist wholly or primarily of the performance of any act referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) or (vi) of paragraph (a), on behalf of such attorney or professional company whose actions will be specifically covered by the Attorneys’ Fidelity Fund and not the Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund;

(g)

for the purposes of section 61 and any regulation made under section 70, includes any person who was a property practitioner at the time when he or she was guilty of any act or omission which allegedly constitutes sanctionable conduct referred to in section 62, but does not include an attorney who, on his own account or as a partner in a firm of attorneys or as a member of a professional company, as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act, 1979, or a candidate attorney as defined in that section, who performs any act referred to in paragraph (a), in the course of and in the name of and from the premises of such attorney’s or professional company’s practice, provided that such an act may not be performed—

(i)	in partnership with any person other than a partner in the practice of that attorney as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act, 1979; or

(ii)	through the medium of or as a director of a company other than such professional company; and

‘‘record’’

means any recorded information regardless of form or medium;

‘‘registration certificate’’

means a registration certificate as contemplated in section 47(2);

‘‘this Act’’

includes any regulations made under this Act; and

‘‘trust money’’

means—

(a)	money entrusted to a property practitioner in his or her capacity as a property practitioner;

(b)	money collected or received by a property practitioner and payable in respect of or on account of any act referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (a) of the definition of a ‘‘property practitioner’’;

(c)	any other money, including insurance premiums, collected or received by a property practitioner and payable in respect of any immovable property, business undertaking or contract for the building or erection of any improvements on immovable property.

Property Practitioners Act, 2019 (Act No. 22 of 2019)

Chapter 1 : Definitions, Application, Objects and Establishment of Authority

1. Definitions

‘‘advertise’’

‘‘audit’’

‘‘auditor’’

‘‘Authority’’

‘‘Board’’

‘‘candidate property practitioner’’

‘‘CEO’’

‘‘Chairperson’’

‘‘code of conduct’’

‘‘consumer’’

‘‘conveyancer’’

‘‘days’’

‘‘Department’’

‘‘Estate Agency Affairs Act’’

‘‘Estate Agency Affairs Board’’

‘‘Fund’’

‘‘Fidelity Fund certificate’’

‘‘immediate family member’’

‘‘inspector’’

‘‘mandatory disclosure form’’

‘‘Minister’’

‘‘prescribe’’

‘‘principal’’

‘‘property’’

‘‘record’’

‘‘registration certificate’’

‘‘this Act’’

‘‘trust money’’