The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused the Deeds Registries Regulations Board of pressing ahead with plans to make it compulsory for property buyers and sellers to disclose their race when registering land transfers.

DA MP Mlindi Nhanha said his party will file a second Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to obtain the minutes of the Board’s 20 October 2025 meeting. The first request was reportedly refused. “The DA will submit a second PAIA application to obtain the official minutes,” Nhanha said, claiming the Board: “resolved to continue with mandatory racial profiling in property transfers.”

At the centre of the dispute is the LLL demographic form, a document used by the Deeds Office to record the race, gender, and nationality of property buyers and sellers. The form was originally introduced to help government track land ownership patterns for transformation purposes. But the DA argues that the form has no legal status in property law and cannot be made compulsory under current legislation.

Nhanha said forcing people to classify themselves racially violates the constitutional rights to privacy, equality, and dignity. He noted that there is no statutory definition of race in South African law and that the move amounts to: “compulsory racial classification.”

The DA’s challenge forms part of its broader campaign against race-based policies in public administration. The party has taken an increasingly strong line against racial criteria in employment, procurement, and empowerment frameworks, arguing instead for a shift toward merit, need, and disadvantage as guiding principles.

Polling by the Social Research Foundation shows that a majority of South Africans oppose racial classification in government policy.