February 2022

1. The previously known Property Practitioners Bill that was initially published on the 3rd of March 2017 by way of Government Gazette 40733 was finally signed into law by the President on the 2nd of October 2019 as the proposed Property Practitioners Act. On the 16th of December 2021 the President signed the Commencement of the Property Practitioners Act, 2019, and noted that it shall come into operation on the 1st of February. 2. The intention of the Act is to provide for the regulation of property practitioners and repealed the Estate Agency Affairs Act 112 of 1976 in its totality and does not intend for the continuation of the Estate Agency Affairs Board but will henceforth be known as the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) whose functions will include specific Consumer Protection, Consumer Education and the transformation and regulation of the industry, and furthermore provides for the governance of the Regulating Authority to promote a framework for property practitioners. 3. The Act further makes provision for the appointment of a CEO of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (“Authority”) which will be the new statutory body in terms of the Act which will consist of a Board made up by at least 9, but not more than 12 non-executive members, as well as the relevant CEO. The Act further provides that the relevant Authority shall furthermore independently consider and dispose of complaints lodged in terms of the Act in respect of financing, marketing, management, letting, hiring, sale and purchase of property and to provide mechanisms for the resolution of such complaints and to ensure that these complaints are disposed of in a procedurally and substantively fair, informal, economical and expeditious manner. 4. The Act further applies to “property practitioners” who consist by definition of the following : “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 instruction of or on behalf of any other person” – By auction, in sale of execution or otherwise sells, purchases, manages or publically exhibits for sale property or offers to canvas a seller or purchase in respect thereof; Lets or hires or publically exhibits for hire property or any business undertaking electronically or any other means; Collects or receives any monies payable on account of a lease of a property; Provides, procures, facilitates, secures or otherwise obtains or markets financing for or in connection of the management, sale or lease of a property including a provider of bridging finance and a bond broker or originator; Assesses property to determine the defects; Manages property on behalf of another for remuneration, which consequently includes homeowners’ associations; Sells, by auction or otherwise, or markets or promotes or advertises any part, unit or section in a property or property development; Acts or provides services as intermediary or facilitator with a primary purpose to effect the conclusion of an agreement to sell or purchase but does not include : A person who does not do so in the ordinary course of business A natural person offering the property for sale in the ordinary course of his business and the property belongs to him An attorney or candidate attorney as defined in the Attorney’s Act A Sheriff as defined in the Sheriff’s Act Any person employed by an attorney to render such services as aforementioned to such attorney 5. From the aforementioned it is clear that the Act broadens the scope of the legislation beyond the traditional “Estate Agent” and will henceforth also cover commercial property brokers, Auctioneers, Mortgage Originators, Property Inspection Services, Property Managers, property developers, Property Facilitators and companies selling timeshare and fractional property, although certain Property Practitioners may further be able to obtain exemption from the provisions of the Act, specifically contained in Section 4 of the Act. 6. Section 28 of the Act provides for the lodging of complaints by any person, in the prescribed form contained in Regulation 5 of the Regulations, same of which must be in writing and contain the full details of the conduct, the Authority may then request further information in the form of an Affidavit or otherwise, and may then carry out an investigation in respect of the complaint, as it deems necessary. The Authority will upon receipt of such complaint, acknowledge receipt, and provide the respondent with a copy of the complaint in question, request the respondent to furnish the Authority with his or comments in writing, and advise the respondent that any such comments furnished by the respondent shall not be used against him or her in any legal proceedings related to the complaint. The Authority may further request further documentation to be furnished by the complainant in relation to such complaint and : May in the prescribed manner deal with the matter himself; Refer the matter for mediation in terms of Section 29; Should mediation be unsuccessful refer the matter for adjudication in terms of Section 30; Section 29 provides that the Authority may, if the Authority believes that a complaint may be resolved through mediation, or on application of the person concerned, refer the complaint to mediation. The Authority must thereafter, within seven days of the referral, appoint a suitably qualified person as a mediator, who must within seven days set the matter down within 30 days of referral to mediation, and will assist the parties to resolve the dispute. Should the mediation proceedings be successful the Mediator will issue a certificate stating the outcome of the mediation and serve a copy of the relevant certificate with outcome on each party to the dispute. Should the mediation however not be successful as contemplated in terms of Section 29, the matter must be adjudicated in accordance with the adjudication contained in Section 30. 7. Section 30 provides for the adjudication of a matter that was not able to be resolved by way of mediation or where the serious nature of the complaint