In two separate written replies to questions from DA MP Conrad Poole, the minister confirmed that by September 1 2025 the backlog was at 31,458 deeds in the pre‑1994 category, 423,642 in the post‑1994 category, and 774,064 in the post‑2014 category, bringing the cumulative total to 1,229,164. A subsequent reply on December 24 2025 provided municipality‑level breakdowns drawn from the surveyor‑general database to enable oversight committees to track the distribution of outstanding deeds across provinces. The backlog represents the continuing failure to give effect to statutory housing entitlements under the Housing Act of 1997 and frustrates the implementation of municipal valuation rolls required by the Municipal Property Rates Act of 2004.
The scale of the backlog reflects structural weaknesses in the housing delivery chain. Projects completed under successive subsidy regimes often stalled at the point of registration, with incomplete beneficiary information, unresolved township establishment processes, and delays in surveying and conveyancing. The absence of registered deeds also impedes municipalities’ ability to levy rates, undermining revenue collection and service delivery.
For households, the consequences are immediate: without a deed, property cannot be sold formally, inherited securely or used as collateral. This exclusion from the formal property market entrenches inequality and limits access to finance, particularly for low‑income families who were meant to benefit from post‑1994 housing programmes. Municipality‑level data shows that the burden is concentrated in a handful of metropolitan areas.
Read Full Article on Business Day
[paywall]
The five largest pre‑1994 backlogs are recorded in eThekwini (5,079), the City of Cape Town (2,577), the City of Johannesburg (2,324), the City of Tshwane (1,242), and Thembisile local municipality in Mpumalanga (1,519). Politically, the persistence of unregistered deeds in projects delivered after 2014 raises questions about compliance with Treasury regulations on asset management and the Public Finance Management Act of 1999. Legislators have emphasised that failure to issue deeds undermines the intended redress of apartheid‑era dispossession and perpetuates inequality in access to property rights. The provision of municipal breakdowns allows oversight bodies to identify hotspots and direct resources accordingly.
[/paywall]
