South Africa Deeds Registries: Complete List

South Africa's property registrations are spread across regional deeds registries, each one covering a defined region of the country. Every property in South Africa is registered at exactly one registry, determined by where the property is located. The owner can live anywhere — a Cape Town owner's Sandton apartment is still registered with the South Gauteng registry.

This page is the complete reference list. For each registry we describe the region it covers, the kinds of property typically registered there, and notes on quirks worth knowing if you're doing a search or transfer. The system runs under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 and reports to the Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds in Pretoria.

Quick reference

• North Gauteng Deeds Registry (Pretoria) — Tshwane and northern Gauteng
• South Gauteng Deeds Registry (Johannesburg) — Witwatersrand / Johannesburg metro
• Western Cape Deeds Registry (Cape Town) — entire Western Cape province
• KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry (Pietermaritzburg / Durban) — entire KZN province
• Free State Deeds Registry (Bloemfontein) — entire Free State province
• Northern Cape Deeds Registry (Kimberley) — entire Northern Cape province
• Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Mthatha — former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape
• Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Qonce — former Ciskei region + East London (Qonce is the renamed King William's Town)
• North West Deeds Registry (Mahikeng / Vryburg service points) — entire North West province
• Mpumalanga Deeds Registry (Mbombela / Nelspruit) — entire Mpumalanga province
• Limpopo Deeds Registry (Polokwane) — entire Limpopo province

Two notes on the list: the Eastern Cape has two active registries (Mthatha and Qonce) reflecting the post-1994 retention of the former Transkei and Ciskei homeland registries. KwaZulu-Natal historically had two physical offices (Pietermaritzburg and Durban); these have been administratively consolidated under one provincial registry while both locations remain in active use as service points. Some older names — Pretoria Deeds Office, Johannesburg Deeds Office, Cape Town Deeds Office, Kimberley Deeds Office, Bloemfontein Deeds Office, King William's Town Deeds Office — refer to the same registries before their post-2020 renaming.

The major metro registries

North Gauteng Deeds Registry (Pretoria)

The North Gauteng registry is the historical and administrative heart of the deeds system — it's where the Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds sits, and it handles all Tshwane-area property plus much of central Gauteng and certain historically-Transvaal districts. Volume is high but the office is well-organised; a typical transfer here takes 7-10 working days in registration. It also handles a disproportionate share of government property transfers and certain large commercial portfolios. Read more on the North Gauteng Deeds Registry page.

South Gauteng Deeds Registry (Johannesburg)

South Gauteng is the busiest deeds registry in the country by volume — the Witwatersrand region accounts for a large share of all property transactions in South Africa, and the office reflects that. Sectional title volumes are particularly high; the Sandton, Rosebank, and southern suburbs registries see thousands of transfers a month. Backlogs can stretch examination times during peak periods. Read more on the South Gauteng Deeds Registry page.

Western Cape Deeds Registry (Cape Town)

The Western Cape registry is one of the oldest in the country, dating to the 19th century. It covers the entire Western Cape and handles a distinctive mix: high-value coastal freehold (Atlantic Seaboard, Constantia, Stellenbosch wine farms) alongside a heavy sectional title load from the City Bowl, Sea Point, and the southern suburbs. Read more on the Western Cape Deeds Registry page.

KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry

The KZN registry serves the entire province — eThekwini and the coast (Umhlanga, Ballito, South Coast), the Midlands and Drakensberg, Pietermaritzburg, and the northern districts and Zululand. The mix is varied: coastal sectional title at scale, Midlands farming property, Drakensberg tourism, sugar-cane estates, and port-related industrial. Both Pietermaritzburg and Durban remain active service points. Read more on the KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry page.

Free State Deeds Registry (Bloemfontein)

The only registry for the entire Free State. It handles everything from Bloemfontein urban property to the province's extensive agricultural land. Volumes are lower than the coastal metros but the geographic spread is large; postal correspondence with the registry takes longer than in-person. Read more on the Free State Deeds Registry page.

The provincial and regional registries

Northern Cape Deeds Registry (Kimberley)

The Northern Cape's only registry. The province is enormous geographically and sparsely populated, so caseload is dominated by farms, mineral-rich rural land, and Kimberley's own urban property. Distance from the office means most Northern Cape transactions are handled by conveyancers who travel or correspond rather than walk in. Read more on the Northern Cape Deeds Registry page.

Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Mthatha

The Mthatha branch serves the former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape — the Wild Coast and inland districts around Mthatha itself. The branch retains its own caseload despite the post-1994 unification; properties in this region don't route to other offices. A significant share of property here is held under traditional or communal-tenure arrangements alongside the standard freehold system. Read more on the Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Mthatha page.

Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Qonce

The Qonce branch (formerly known as the King William's Town Deeds Office — Qonce is the official renaming) serves the former Ciskei region of the Eastern Cape — Bhisho, East London surrounds, and the eastern districts south of the Kei River. Like Mthatha, this branch continues to operate as a standalone registry. The caseload is split between urban East London property, smaller rural towns, and agricultural land. Read more on the Eastern Cape Deeds Registry: Qonce page.

North West Deeds Registry

The North West registry serves the entire province — Mahikeng, the platinum belt around Rustenburg, the southern mining and university districts (Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom), and the western cattle country around Vryburg. Mining-related property transactions and platinum-belt land make up a noticeable share of caseload alongside ordinary residential and agricultural transfers. Mmabatho and Vryburg both remain in active use as service points. Read more on the North West Deeds Registry page.

Mpumalanga Deeds Registry (Mbombela)

The Mpumalanga registry handles property for the entire province from Mbombela (Nelspruit) — the Highveld coal-mining belt around Witbank, the Lowveld tourism strip around Nelspruit and Hazyview, the conservation belt around Kruger, the citrus and subtropical-fruit districts, and the agricultural Highveld. Some older Mpumalanga property records may still be held in the North Gauteng registry's historical files; current registrations route to the provincial registry. Read more on the Mpumalanga Deeds Registry page.

Limpopo Deeds Registry (Polokwane)

The Limpopo registry serves the entire northernmost province from Polokwane — the bushveld game-farm belt, the Tzaneen and Phalaborwa fruit-growing districts, the platinum belt around Mokopane, and the Vhembe / Venda region in the north. Game-farm and conservation property is a notable share of caseload; some historical records may still be held in the North Gauteng registry. Read more on the Limpopo Deeds Registry page.

Which registry handles your property?

For most people this question never comes up — when you search a property on DeedsCheck, we route the query to the correct registry automatically. The registry is determined by the property's location, never the owner's location. A Cape Town resident who owns a Sandton apartment has a deed registered with the South Gauteng Deeds Registry.

If you're visiting in person — typically to inspect a historical deed or do something the online flow doesn't cover — the registry determines itself from the property's magisterial district. The boundaries follow the country's magistrate's court structure, with some inherited variations from the 1994 transition. The registry's own staff can confirm which office a property falls under from the erf number alone.

What's available online vs in person

Almost everything modern is available online. The deeds registries' electronic interface gives you:

• Current ownership and ID numbers
• Title deed PDFs (issued post-digitisation, typically post-1990s; older deeds are sometimes digitised on demand)
• Current bonds and their details
• Transfer history including price and date
• Registered conditions and servitudes

What still requires a physical visit:

• Inspection of pre-digitisation paper files (very old transactions where the original is on microfiche or in archives)
• Certain notarial documents that weren't scanned at digitisation
• Disputes about registry content that need a clerk to retrieve the original file

For day-to-day searches — buying a house, refinancing, checking a property before a lease — online is the right route. Our Property Search Report covers everything the registry holds, and a Property Document Search returns the list of documents registered against a property (and is the route to order the Title Deed Copy itself). Live pricing is on each product page.