June 2 2026 19:40
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Zap Hub, a South African multi-use property platform which connects buyers, sellers, renters, agents and other service providers, has launched urgent High Court proceedings against the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the Minister of Human Settlements, arguing that the regulator is enforcing the Property Practitioners Act selectively while allowing major competing platforms to operate without registration or Fidelity Fund Certificates (FFCs).
Zap Hub (Pty) Ltd, represented by its owner and director, Bronwyn Rodrigues, filed the application in the Gauteng Local Division in Johannesburg on May 22 2026, requesting that the matter be heard on June 2 2026. It was later moved to the next week.
The application named seven platforms as direct competitors operating without valid FFCs: Airbnb, Booking.com, Lekkeslaap, Addprop, MyRoof, Private Property, and Property24. Rodrigues’s affidavit references a written response by the PPRA to a media query dated May 5 2026, in which she states the authority confirmed that Airbnb and Booking.com are not registered and do not hold FFCs. No online advertising agency or platform is registered under the names of Property24 or Private Property.
Zap Hub registered voluntarily with the PPRA and obtained an FFC because it believed it was required to do so under the Act. As a registered and compliant entity, it applies the Act’s requirements to the practitioners who list on its platform, refusing to allow any agent or practitioner to advertise properties unless they hold a valid FFC.
The PPRA has fallen behind in processing FFC applications and legitimate practitioners who have applied and paid are waiting months, and in some cases over a year, for certificates that have not been issued. Those practitioners cannot list on Zap Hub in the interim. Rodrigues said she was penalised for compliance while her competitors are rewarded for non-compliance.
Rodrigues’s affidavit references a written response by the PPRA to a media query dated 5 May 2026, in which she states the authority confirmed that Airbnb and Booking.com are not registered and do not hold FFCs, and that no online advertising agency or platform is registered under the names of Property24 or Private Property.
Rodrigues argues that this confirms all four are operating unlawfully. Property24 and Private Property say they have obtained formal legal opinions confirming they are not required to register or hold FFCs, a position they have communicated to the PPRA.
Rodrigues was seeking a declaratory order, arguing that the PPRA’s alleged inaction constitutes an unreasonable delay and a breach of its statutory duties under both the Property Practitioners Act and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
The CEO of the PPRA. Thato Ramaili told Property Flash in 2025 that all property practitioners needs to have FFCs and not onoly estate agents.
247@propertyflash.co.za
