Page 19 - Nexia SAB&T Property and Tax Guide 2025

◆ A purchaser/seller/tenant/lessor can request the agreement to be in any of
South Africa’s official languages, and this must be supplied by the seller.
◆ Exemptions in respect of accounting records and trust accounts
◆ These exemptions are introduced to assist transformation within the industry.
◆ Section 23 provides that a property practitioner, whose turnover is below
R2.5 million, may not require an audit, but must cause his, her or its
accounting records to be subjected to an independent review by a registered
accountant, subject to the provisions of section 54(1)-(7) applied with the
necessary changes. All property practitioners whose turnover is above R2.5
million must cause their accounting records to be audited within 6 months of
their financial year end.
◆ The Minister may by notice in the Government Gazette, determine
circumstances where a property practitioner may be exempted from keeping
trust accounts, and determine a different dispensation for the review of the
accounting records for those property practitioners. The Regulations state
that a property practitioner is exempted from keeping a trust account if he
has never received any trust monies, or no longer receives the same, and he
submits an affidavit to this effect to the Board of Authority.
◆ A managing agent shall not be required to operate a trust account in respect
of a body corporate where the funds of that body corporate are held in a bank
account opened in the name of the body corporate in terms of Section 21(4)
(a) of the Sectional Title’s Schemes Management Act (8 of 2011).
◆ Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund and Fidelity Fund Certificates
◆ The Estate Agents Fidelity Fund is now known as the Property Practitioners
Fidelity Fund (PPFF). It has the purpose of reimbursing consumers who suffer
financial loss by reason of theft of trust money committed by a property
practitioner.
◆ Every property practitioner must have a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate, and is
prohibited from rendering services without it. He will not only be required to
possess a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate, but also a Tax Clearance Certificate,
and a valid BEE Certificate.
◆ The property practitioner must apply to the Board of Authority for a Fidelity
Fund Certificate every 3 years, and must display the Certificate in every
place of business from where he conducts property transactions, to enable
consumers to easily inspect it. The Board must issue the Certificate within 30
days. Failure to do so will result in the application being deemed to have been
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