The Conveyancing Process in South Africa: Roles, Timeline and Costs

Almost every property sale in South Africa goes through conveyancing, but few buyers or sellers know exactly what it involves beyond "the attorney's part." Who actually appoints that attorney, why does a bond need its own separate one, and is a conveyancer even the same thing as a lawyer? This guide answers all three, walks through the process in the order it actually happens, and explains what to check before trusting a firm with your transfer. For the full Rand breakdown of what you'll pay, see our Transfer Costs Explained guide, or use the Transfer Cost Calculator to get your own figure first.

What Is Conveyancing, and What Does a Conveyancer Do?

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring registered ownership of an immovable property from a seller to a buyer, administered through South Africa's Deeds Registry system. It covers the property itself changing hands and, where a bond is involved, the registration of a new bond and, on the seller's side, the cancellation of any existing one.

A conveyancer, the attorney who runs this process, does considerably more than file paperwork. They investigate the property's title to confirm the seller can actually transfer it, prepare and lodge every document the Deeds Office requires, obtain the rates clearance and levy clearance certificates confirming nothing is owed to the municipality or body corporate, hold the purchase price in a trust account, and only release funds once registration is confirmed. Most buyers only deal with the conveyancer directly on signature day, but almost every fee, delay and document request in a property sale traces back to this office.

Is a Conveyancer an Attorney?

Yes. A conveyancer is not a separate profession in South Africa, unlike in some other countries, it's an admitted attorney who has passed the Legal Practice Council's conveyancing examination under Section 26 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, then been formally enrolled as a conveyancer at a Provincial Division of the High Court.

That extra qualification is specifically about deed drafting, registry practice, the Deeds Registries Act and the mechanics of transfer, bond registration and cancellation, on top of an attorney's general legal training. It matters practically: not every attorney is entitled to sign off a property transfer, only ones who have specifically qualified and enrolled as conveyancers can. If you're ever unsure whether a firm handling your transfer is properly qualified, this is the exact credential to ask about.

Who's Who: Transferring Attorney vs Bond Attorney vs Bond Cancellation Attorney

A single property sale routinely involves three separate law firms, each appointed by a different party and doing a distinct job. Assuming any one of them represents you personally, or that they're all the same office, is one of the most common sources of confusion buyers and sellers report during a transfer.

All three work in parallel, not in sequence, so that the property transfer and any bond registration or cancellation register simultaneously at the Deeds Office. A delay by any one of the three can hold up all of them, since none can finalise ahead of the others.

How Long Conveyancing Takes

A straightforward residential conveyancing process typically takes 6 to 10 weeks from a signed offer to purchase to registration, the same range our own Transfer Costs Explained guide sets out for the full transfer journey. Some industry estimates go as high as 8 to 12 weeks, particularly for more complex transactions such as a deceased estate, a sectional title unit with a levy dispute, or a chain where your buyer is also waiting on their own sale to complete.

These stages aren't a strict single-file queue. FICA and document collection often overlaps with the attorney appointment, and clearance certificates can be requested while other paperwork is still being finalised. The most common causes of a longer wait are incomplete FICA documentation, a municipality slow to issue a rates clearance certificate, or the seller's bond cancellation attorney taking longer than expected.

What Conveyancing Actually Costs

Conveyancing fees are not fixed by law. They follow a Law Society guideline tariff that scales with the property's purchase price, and different firms can and do quote slightly different amounts within that structure. As a buyer, expect to pay the transferring attorney's conveyancing fee, transfer duty if the price is above the SARS threshold, and a separate bond registration fee if you're taking a bond, on top of disbursements like the Deeds Office fee and clearance certificates.

We've already built the full Rand-figure breakdown, so rather than repeat it here: see our Transfer Costs Explained guide for a complete cost table by price band, or use the calculator below to get your own number in under a minute.

Who Appoints the Conveyancer, and Can You Choose Your Own?

Here's the part that catches almost everyone off guard: the seller appoints the conveyancing attorney, not the buyer, even though the buyer is the one paying their fees. This is standard, lawful practice in South Africa, not a red flag or something to dispute on principle.

In practice it's often negotiable at the margins. Estate agents sometimes build a preferred attorney into the offer to purchase, and nothing stops a buyer from raising a preference during negotiation, though the seller isn't obligated to agree. If a transaction is already underway and there's a genuine service problem, real delays, poor communication, unresponsiveness, there is a recognised process for requesting a change of conveyancer, though it isn't automatic and generally needs both parties' cooperation to action smoothly.

How to Choose a Good Conveyancer

Since you're rarely the one appointing the conveyancer, "choosing" one is less about shopping around and more about knowing what to check once a firm is proposed, whether you're the seller doing the appointing or the buyer trying to gauge who you're dealing with.