ESTATE AGENTS GET NEW MINISTER

Human settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale is now in charge of the estate agency profession.  Ministerial responsibility for the Estate Agency Affairs Act was transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) on May 17.  Johalna Minnaar, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa (IEASA), says that the IEASA sees this as a positive move for the profession.  The IEASA hopes that the long awaited draft 'property transactions bill', intended to replace the present Act, will soon be forthcoming.  

"It's been six years since the DTI began its review of property laws and the regulatory system," says Minnaar.  "Reform is badly needed, but progress has been very slow.  Although there was talk last year of a draft 'property transactions bill' being gazetted for public comment, it has not yet appeared.  We hope that the change of ministry will not create further delay." 

The estate agency profession had been under the DTI and its predecessors for thirty-five years.  "The change had evidently been on the cards for a while," says Minnaar.  "The Cabinet reportedly decided last year that all property-related legislation should be under the DHS, and this transfer is clearly in line with that decision."

"Minister Sexwale has stated that the DHS will use estate agency legislation to help de-racialise residential areas, and that the department will interact with industry players and stakeholders at the right time," says Minnaar.  "The IEASA, which has represented the estate agency profession for seventy-five years, sees this as another step towards transformation of the profession, and looks forward to interacting with the DHS when the time is right."

The EAAB has made positive comment as follows:

The relocation of the EAAB from the dti to the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) has been in the offing for quite some time and was finalised on 17 May 2012. I think that it is really an excellent move that bodes extremely well for the EAAB.

The DHS is well aware of the property Transactions Bill as well as all other outstanding matters and will, we understand, now be taking steps to expedite the finalisation of all of these aspects.

Issued by the

Institute of Estate Agents of SA