SENIOR CADASTRAL OFFICER

This position is for a Senior Cadastral Officer within the Maintenance and Cadastral Spatial Information Services directorate of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, based in Gauteng, Pretoria. The role sits within the technical geomatics environment, supporting the Surveyor-General’s Office by ensuring that all cadastral documents—those that define land parcel boundaries and rights—are accurately captured, maintained, updated, and made available to authorised users. It is a level seven appointment within the public service, and the successful candidate will be expected to work with both simple and highly complex survey documents, requiring a meticulous and legally sound approach.

Applicants must have a Grade 12 certificate together with a National Certificate in Geomatics or a Survey Officer Certificate at NQF Level 5, along with at least three years of post-qualification experience in a geomatics or cadastral survey environment. A valid driver’s licence is also required. The role demands a sound working knowledge of Geographical Information Systems software and principles, familiarity with the standard operating procedures and processes of the Surveyor-General’s Office, and a thorough understanding of cadastral surveys. Core skills include strong analytical and report-writing ability, good interpersonal relations, clear verbal and written communication, computer literacy, and presentation skills. Personal attributes such as confidentiality, fairness, respect, and honesty are essential, as the officer will handle sensitive land records.

The duties are wide-ranging and include capturing, maintaining, and updating alpha-numeric data for cadastral documents, verifying mathematical consistency, and validating proposed new land parcels. The officer will update cadastral databases after every approved document, capture historical records, and attend to complex maintenance in line with legislated processes. This includes processing withdrawals or cancellations, endorsing documents with registered land parcels, leases, or servitudes, and making complex amendments to approved documents. The role also requires inserting approved documents into the archive, extracting and issuing records, refiling returned documents, and repairing records so they remain usable. Technical examination forms a major part of the work: checking designations of new lodgements, examining diagrams, general plans, survey records, and sectional title plans, and updating noting sheets. The officer will research and supply cadastral information to internal and external clients, including supplying aerial photographs and maps from National Geospatial Information under service level agreements, and conducting basic research into land parcel boundaries for clients and land reform programmes. Spatial data responsibilities include capturing newly submitted documents to identify overlaps before approval, maintaining accurate datasets, investigating and resolving error sources, and using survey calculation principles to improve boundary data quality. Finally, the officer will scan all cadastral documents upon approval, amendment, endorsement, or withdrawal, re-scan updated documents, link scanned images to alpha-numeric data, and conduct quality checks to keep the scanned image database clean and accurate.

This vacancy is subject to employment equity targets, specifically encouraging applications from African, Coloured, Indian, and White males, as well as Coloured and Indian females and persons with disabilities. The position is advertised in a public service circular, and all application instructions, closing dates, and contact details must be followed as provided in the original advertisement.