Initialling every page in South Africa

“Initial every page and sign the last” (in Afrikaans, “parafeer elke bladsy”) comes with almost every South African lease, loan agreement, employment contract and sworn statement. Most of these can be initialled and signed electronically. A few can't, and one, the will, requires signatures on every page by law. Here's how to tell them apart.

What the ECT Act allowsDocuments that still need inkWills and affidavits

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  1. 1Is it a will, a property sale or a long lease?Those are outside the ECT Act: sign on paper, as the law requires.
  2. 2Does a law require the signature?Then an electronic signature must be an advanced one, which a simple PDF signer is not.
  3. 3OtherwiseAn ordinary contract can be initialled and signed electronically if the parties accept it.

For contracts that want initials on every page and a full signature at the end: set up your initials once, repeat them in the same corner of each page with one click, then sign the last page.

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The ECT Act in three lines

Electronic is not second-class

Section 13(2): an electronic signature is not without legal force merely because it is electronic.

Law-required means advanced

Section 13(1): where a law requires a signature without saying which type, only an advanced electronic signature will do.

Some deals are excluded

Schedule 2: land sales, leases of land over 20 years, wills and bills of exchange aren't validated electronically.

South African initialling questions

What does “parafeer elke bladsy” mean?
“Initial every page.” A paraaf is your initials, used as a short signature on each page of a document.
Can I sign a residential lease electronically in South Africa?
An ordinary lease isn't excluded by the ECT Act, and many agents accept electronically initialled and signed leases. Leases of land for longer than 20 years are excluded. Check what your landlord or agent accepts.
Can I e-sign an offer to purchase a property?
Don't rely on it. Agreements for the alienation of land are listed in Schedule 2 of the ECT Act. Ask the agent or conveyancer how the offer must be signed.
Is a signature made with InitialPDF an advanced electronic signature?
No. It's a simple electronic signature. Use it where the parties accept that, not where a law requires an advanced electronic signature.
What does InitialPDF cost in South Africa?
Trying the editor is free. Downloading a signed PDF needs a plan, priced in euros: €2.99 a month or €24.99 a year. Any conversion to rand happens at checkout or through your card provider, so check the final amount before you pay. You can cancel whenever you like and still download until the paid month or year is over.

Updated 28 September 2026 · Written by Joe Farwick, who runs this site

Why every page, every time

South African institutions are thorough about page initials. Banks, estate agents, landlords, employers and attorneys routinely ask for a paraaf on every page, often from every party, so that no page of a signed agreement can quietly be replaced. For most documents that's a contractual requirement, not a legal one, but you won't get the document accepted without it.

Initialling and signing electronically: what the ECT Act says

The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 defines an electronic signature as data attached to or associated with other data and intended by the user to serve as a signature. Typed initials, drawn initials and a drawn signature in a PDF all fit that description. Section 13(2) says an electronic signature is not without legal force and effect merely because it is in electronic form.

Where the parties themselves require a signature but haven't agreed on a type, section 13(3) is satisfied if the method identifies the person and shows their approval, and is as reliable as appropriate for the purpose. The Supreme Court of Appeal applied this in Spring Forest Trading v Wilberry (2014): the parties' typed names at the foot of their emails counted as signatures for a contract clause that required any cancellation to be signed.

When a law requires the signature

Section 13(1) is stricter. Where a signature is required by law and the law doesn't specify the type, an electronic signature only meets that requirement if it is an advanced electronic signature, which the Act defines as one resulting from a process accredited by the Accreditation Authority. Signatures made with InitialPDF, or with most PDF tools, are simple electronic signatures, not advanced ones. If a statute requires your signature on a document, ask whoever needs it how it must be signed.

Documents that still need ink

Schedule 2 of the ECT Act lists transactions the Act does not validate electronically: an agreement for the alienation of immovable property under the Alienation of Land Act, a lease of immovable property for more than 20 years, the execution of a will or codicil, and the execution of a bill of exchange. The Alienation of Land Act adds that a sale of land has no force unless it's in a deed of alienation signed by the parties or their agents with written authority.

In practice: for an offer to purchase a house or a flat, let the estate agent or conveyancing attorney tell you how it must be signed, and don't rely on an e-signature. An ordinary residential lease of a year or two isn't on the list, which is why so many agents send lease PDFs to be initialled and signed on screen.

Wills: every page, by law

The Wills Act 7 of 1953 is where page-by-page signing is a legal formality. The will must be signed at the end by the testator in the presence of two or more competent witnesses who are present at the same time, and the witnesses sign too. If the will has more than one page, each page other than the page on which it ends must also be signed by the testator, anywhere on the page. The Act defines “sign” to include the making of initials, so initials on those pages meet the requirement.

Because wills are excluded from the ECT Act, this happens on paper. If a formality is missed, section 2(3) lets a court order the Master to accept a document as a will if it's satisfied the deceased intended it to be one, but that is a court application, not a shortcut.

Affidavits and the commissioner of oaths

Under the regulations on administering an oath or affirmation, the commissioner asks whether you know and understand the contents of the declaration, you sign it in the commissioner's presence, and the commissioner certifies below your signature with their name, business address, designation and area. The regulations themselves don't mention initialling each page, but commissioners and the institutions receiving affidavits often ask for it on longer statements. Either way, a digital initial added at home doesn't replace signing in front of the commissioner.

Initialling every page of a PDF

For a lease, an employment contract or another everyday agreement sent as a PDF, open it in the InitialPDF editor, place your initials in the bottom right corner of page one and press “Place on every page”. Sign the last page, check the list that shows each initialled page, then download and return it. The PDF is processed in your browser and isn't uploaded.

Sources

Before you initial

Three questions decide how the document must be signed.

1

Is it a will, a property sale or a long lease?

Those are outside the ECT Act: sign on paper, as the law requires.

2

Does a law require the signature?

Then an electronic signature must be an advanced one, which a simple PDF signer is not.

3

Otherwise

An ordinary contract can be initialled and signed electronically if the parties accept it.

Related guides

Initial every page of your PDF

For everyday agreements: place your initials once, repeat on every page, sign, download.

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