Property Attorney

Our client, based in the lovely Paarl in Cape Town is seeking an Admitted Attorney to join the small team.

They are a South African independent tower company. We identify, secure, build, own and operate wireless telecommunications tower sites, which we lease to the mobile network operators — MTN, Vodacom, Telkom and RAIN. Our portfolio and pipeline extend to more than 3 000 sites across every province, from dense metro infill sites to rural coverage sites.

Operator (MNO) lease drafting and negotiation

• Draft and populate co-location and new-build sublease agreements per site off the group’s approved precedents for each operator, working from the operator’s application, site data and equipment schedules.
• Complete and check all annexures — site and property descriptions, title deed and erf details, GPS coordinates, ground-space and tower-space drawings, equipment and wind-loading schedules, and the rental and overage calculations that flow from them.
• Manage revisions and version control through to signature, and track the status of every lease in circulation.
• Negotiate operator mark-ups and deviations from the standard terms, escalating commercial trade-offs to the Head of Legal and the directors with a clear recommendation.

• Maintain and improve the precedent bank and drafting notes so that the standard position is consistent across operators and sites.

2. Ground lease due diligence

• Conduct due diligence on ground leases and option agreements: verify the landowner’s title and authority to contract, the property description against the title deed and diagram, the lease term, renewal and escalation mechanics, and — critically — the rights to erect the structure, to sublet to operators and to grant access and servitudes.
• Identify defects, rank them by severity, and either mark the lease valid or refer it back to the landowner or the acquisition team to be remedied and re-submitted.
• Record every due diligence outcome accurately in the group’s site management system so that operations and finance can rely on it.
• Prepare clear risk notes where the directors are asked to authorise proceeding to construction notwithstanding an unresolved defect.
• Attend to deeds office searches, servitude registration, notarial deeds and consents in conjunction with external conveyancers where registration is required.

3. Landlord and property portfolio management

• Draft and negotiate new ground leases, renewals, extensions, addenda, cessions and consents.
• Issue landlord commencement letters and manage the correspondence that triggers the start of rental payment obligations.
• Deal with changes of landowner, property transfers, deceased estates, sectional title and body corporate issues, municipal landowners and communal or traditional authority land.
• Advise the business on escalation, rates and utility recovery and other lease-driven cost items.

4. Regulatory, permitting and statutory compliance

• Track and advise on the permitting position of each site — Civil Aviation Authority approvals, environmental authorisations, consent use and rezoning approvals, and approved building plans — in conjunction with the operations and construction teams.
• Liaise with municipalities, town planners, environmental practitioners and consultants on applications, conditions of approval and appeals; advise on the legal risk of building ahead of a pending approval.
• Attend to enforcement notices, objections and compliance queries relating to existing structures.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments affecting telecommunications infrastructure, land use and property, and brief the business on their practical implications.

5. Corporate, governance and group legal matters

• Handle company secretarial work for the group entities: resolutions, CIPC filings, director and shareholder records, and the delegation of authority framework.
• Maintain the group contracts register and ensure signed originals are properly executed, dated and filed.
• Support corporate transactions — sale of business and portfolio acquisitions, cessions and delegations of contracts and utility accounts, and post-closing implementation.
• Support financing workstreams and lender due diligence, including development finance institution requirements such as ESG and environmental and social questionnaires and action plans.
• Attend to compliance obligations including POPIA, B-BBEE, insurance and health and safety documentation.

6. Supplier, contractor and dispute management

• Draft and review construction, supplier, service and consultancy agreements, purchase terms and non-disclosure agreements.
• Attend to letters of demand, breach notices and debt recovery, and manage landlord, contractor and operator disputes.
• Instruct, brief and manage external attorneys and counsel, and control external legal spend.

• LLB degree from a recognised university.
• Admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
• Approximately 3 to 6 years’ post-qualification experience, with a substantial portion in commercial property, leasing or property-related litigation or conveyancing.
• Demonstrable, high-quality contract drafting ability — you will be asked to complete a drafting exercise as part of the selection process.
• Advanced Microsoft Word skills (styles, cross-references, comparison and track changes) and comfort working in Excel and document management systems.
• Exceptional attention to detail and the discipline to keep it up across a high volume of near-identical documents.
• Ability to work independently, manage a large matter load and meet commercial deadlines without being chased.
• Valid driver’s licence and own reliable transport; willingness to travel occasionally to sites and to operator offices.
• Fluency in English; the ability to work in Afrikaans is an advantage given our landowner base.

Basic Salary between R30k - R35k

If you are interested please send your CV, copy of ID, recent payslip, qualification to ***email_hidden***

It will be ideal if you stay in Paarl or surrounded area