Load-shedding leads to surveyor-general’s system crash, leaving property industry in crisis

An electronic system at the heart of the Western Cape property industry has crashed due to load-shedding, and there are fears that much of the data has been permanently lost.

In a memo to land surveyors, the regional surveyor-general’s office confirmed the crash, which it said was partly the result of the office’s backup generator not working over weekends. The electronic system has yet to be restored, and it appears much of the digital material — such as land surveyor diagrams and building plans — has been corrupted.

“Due to multiple load-shedding occasions the Oracle database went down, unfortunately when it came back up again it had been corrupted,” said Julian Williamson from the provincial surveyor-general’s office. The system has been down since mid-September.

The surveyor-general’s office is the repository of all property diagrams that underpin property-related transactions. Together with the deeds office, which manages title deeds, it is the bedrock of the property development industry. Both offices fall under the department of agriculture, land reform, and rural development.

Property industry stakeholders this week described the crash as a “crisis situation”, which would cause massive delays and knock-on effects for a big part of the regional economy. It means anybody wishing to see property-related diagrams must access the physical drawings at the Cape Town office rather than simply downloading the digital files.

This dials us back at least 20 years or longer. This is the 21st century. To say that there is a paper backup is a bit like the bank saying, not to worry, we have a paper backup of your bank statement.

—  Deon van Zyl, chairperson of the Western Cape Property Development Forum

“This dials us back at least 20 years or longer,” said Deon van Zyl, chairperson of the Western Cape Property Development Forum (WCPDF).

He said the backup paper system was cold comfort for many professionals who rely on the digital system for property-related transactions. It would also impact on the public who access digital records to check on property records ahead of a possible purchase.

“This is the 21st century. To say that there is a paper backup is a bit like the bank saying, 'Not to worry, we have a paper backup of your bank statement,'” Van Zyl said.

He said it was unclear how much of the digital database had been lost, with documents stretching back about 300 years.  

A land surveyor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the system crash called into question the government’s handling of digital data systems, which required updating. He said before the system crash, the Western Cape surveyor-general office approved daily property transactions worth about R70m.

“It is time our politicians started thinking about delays as a cost to the economy,” he said.

SA’s antiquated system of managing its own data servers, rather than using cloud-based “server farms”, was also partly to blame for system failures.  

The WCPDF said the system failure had severe economic implications: “Losing international standing among investors is always problematic, but it is even more so for developers, practitioners and property clients in the Western Cape — the province in which the data has been lost,” it said in a newsletter distributed to industry stakeholders.

“The direct link between the deeds office and the surveyor-general’s office is also impacted. Surveyors not based in Cape Town will now have to travel to Cape Town or establish a system of messengers to physically visit and extract the extensive information [that is: what they require to deliver their services as professionals and on which their livelihoods depend], directly from the Western Cape surveyor-general’s office.”

The WCPDF added: “In a system already hamstrung by red tape, this means another blow to the production line of property in the Western Cape. While the province may be the most progressive in South Africa when it comes to passing building plans, it still part of a nationwide construction industry in severe decline and, just like the rest of the country, it depends on any and all construction projects just to survive.”