22 October 2024
To whom it may concern,
The Legal Practice Council.
The Law Society of South Africa. THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, Ms Joanne Anthony-Gooden
The Property Practitioners Regulatory Agency.
First National Bank.
Nedbank.
Standard bank
ABSA
De Rebus.
Bribery has unfortunately become the norm in the conveyancing sector.
The purpose of this letter is to bring to the attention of all role players the alarming rise of bribery among attorneys seeking to secure more work from property practitioners. These actions are not only unethical but also in direct violation of the rules set by the Law Society and the PPRA.
Bribery is no different from corruption, which has become far too common in our beloved country, and this practice must be stopped. Some of the unethical practices taking place include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Attorneys paying agents up to R 7 500.00 per instruction.
2. Attorneys offering a kickback of 20% of their fees to agents.
3. Attorneys paying substantial sums of money (up to R 500 000.00) to principals in exchange for guaranteed referrals over a period of years.
4. Attorneys covering the cost of professional photography for properties on the condition that the agent refers the deal to them.
5. Attorneys purchasing shares in estate agencies and then pressuring agents to direct work to them.
Proving these acts of bribery is incredibly difficult: those who benefit are as complicit as the instigators. In many cases, your best witness is part of the scheme. Although I do not have direct proof of the corruption mentioned above, I am confident that organizations with the necessary authority (such as the HAWKS) could easily uncover it.
Something must be done to address this issue, and I am calling on all role players to take responsibility and act to end these corrupt practices. Let us stand together to put an end to bribery and restore integrity to our industry.
This misconduct is now known to all those copied in this letter, and no one can claim ignorance of the corruption plaguing the property industry.
Thank you, I am looking forward to your reply.
Jan Jordaan
Director
Jan L Jordaan Attorneys
jan@janljordaan.co.za
OPEN LETTER TO CONVEYANCERS – 29 October 2024
Good afternoon, fellow colleagues,
Bribery has, regrettably, become the norm in the conveyancing sector. This letter follows the Open Letter I recently sent to all banks, the Legal Practice Council, the De Rebus and the PPRA, urging them to address this growing problem.
I am reaching out to bring an issue to light that should be of deep concern to every member of our profession: bribery and corruption have become all too common in conveyancing.
Any attorney who engages in these practices effectively forfeits the right to criticize the corruption we see in our country’s leadership.
Bribery is corruption, plain and simple, and it has become too widespread in our beloved country.
This practice must be stopped.
Some unethical practices we are now seeing in conveyancing include, but are not limited to:
- Conveyancers paying agents up to R7,500 per instruction;
- Conveyancers offering a kickback of 20% of their fees to agents;
- Conveyancers paying significant sums of money (up to R500,000) to principals in exchange for guaranteed referrals over a period of years;
- Conveyancers covering the cost of professional property photography on the condition that agents direct the deal to them;
- Conveyancers purchasing shares in estate agencies and then pressuring agents to direct work to them;
- Conveyancers paying Town Council officials to expedite the issuance of clearance figures and certificates.
Proving these acts of bribery is undeniably challenging, as those who benefit are often complicit, with many of them embedded within the scheme itself.
Although I lack direct proof of these practices, I have no doubt that an organization with investigative authority, such as the Hawks, could readily uncover these corrupt activities.
It is time for us to take a united stand to restore the integrity of our profession and to make it once again trusted and respected.
I invite and challenge each of you to join me in addressing this issue so we can clean up our industry and reestablish the high standards we once upheld.
Let us stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to protect the honour of our profession and eliminate bribery from the conveyancing sector.
Who is with me on this?
Jan Jordaan
Director
Jan L Jordaan Attorneys
jan@janljordaan.co.za
