As much as R3-trillion worth of real estate has transformed the rural and township property landscape right under the noses of financial institutions and big corporates. Without access to title deeds, pay slips or even formal jobs, an estimated 90% of South Africans have cash-built homes one brick at a time without access to formal credit.
However, until this treasure chest of potential equity is unlocked, South Africa’s GDP growth will likely remain stunted at under 1%.
It’s why businessman Lance Chalwin-Milton, author and entrepreneur GG Alcock and executive group chairman of Afrirent, Senzo Tsabedze, have co-founded a groundbreaking property evaluation system.
Driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain, E-DEED provides a 97% accurate evaluation and an associated non–fungible token (NFT), a crypto asset that accurately reflects a property’s value. The end result is that thousands of “unbanked” homeowners with little chance of accessing title deeds for their properties will be catapulted into the formal economy and families’ legacy investments can at last be recognised.
Informal sector guru GG Alcock explains that the complexity of township home ownership, tribal land ownership and RDP homes means the chance of getting title deeds is extremely slim: “The reality is that millions of homes will never get title deeds, especially in tribal and Ngonyama trust areas. Township and RDP homes have their own complexities related to historical and cultural issues. This is why, in the absence of a title deed, we need to find ways to help owners to realise the value of the asset in which they have invested.”
Putting meaningful property ownership and wealth into the hands of all South Africans has long been on the entrepreneurial radar of Chalwin-Milton: “We want to make the ‘unwealthy’, wealthy. And when we say ‘unwealthy’, that is a misnomer; these assets may be worth R1-trillion to R2-million or more”, and these are 100% equity assets”.
Chalwin-Milton says their research showed that there are about 20- million homes in South Africa. “Only 10% – 2-million of them – are classified as ‘shacks’. There are about nine million deeded homes and the remainder are the invisible but significant structures within townships or on tribal trust land in rural areas,” he says.
Tsabedze believes that traditional property wealth processes have been marred by inefficiencies, paperwork, and lack of transparency. E-DEED – which requires no more than a smart phone – will also enable the under-insured and un-insured to cover their homes closer to their true values.
“We are heavily invested in driving innovation within the property sector. E-DEED opens up opportunities for homeowners in townships and rural areas, enabling greater financial inclusion and wealth creation. This platform provides a secure, efficient, and transparent solution, ensuring that homeowners are no longer excluded from the financial system,” he observes.
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