For a free South Africa DIY reverse address lookup, you'll need to use SA financial information databases and Google.co.za as an investigative tool.
This is how you can find out who an address belongs to for free in South Africa.
Furthermore, a completely free DIY reverse SA mailing address lookup is really your only option for real results. Unfortunately, paid address lookup services will offer you only some help.
This can make a SA reverse address lookup seem like a daunting task. There are many online address research services on the web that promise results for a small fee.
However, many of these South African reverse address lookup services are simply clickbait scams or are just trying to extract a small fee from you. They will not be able to provide the SA address information you are looking for.
A DIY reverse SA address search will almost always be the best option.
Free Reverse Address Search in South Africa
So, is a free DIY reverse address lookup even possible in South Africa?
Yes, but it will require a research effort on your part
Thankfully, many South African addresses in the modern age are available publicly, they are just surrounded by a lot of other data which makes the task of a reverse address lookup a little difficult.
By available publicly in SA, we mean that they are available on the internet. So, how do you begin to perform a correct reverse address lookup?
By free SA reverse address lookup methods
This is done by utilizing Google.co.za and SA financial databases. These are just a couple of ways for you to do your own SA reverse address search if you are new to on-line researching.
However, if the SA reverse address lookup is important to you, we recommend that you use a professional.
Free South Africa Reverse Address Lookup Summary
Use the Google.co.za Search Operator: "Exact Phrase Match."
Search the SA address in South African financial databases.
Google.co.za Reverse Address Search
Google.co.za is typically where you should start when beginning a reverse address search in South Africa. This is a great way to start an address research task when it is combined with "Google.co.za Search Operators."
This also answers the common question: "how do I do a SA reverse address lookup for free on Google.co.za?"
The answer is using Google.co.za Search Operators
Search Operators are special text characters and commands that greatly extend the capabilities of a regular Google.co.za search. The one specific Google.co.za Search Operators that works well with an address is quotes ("").
This Operator (Exact Phrase Match) searches Google.co.za for 100% the exact phrase that is being searched within the quotes. If a South Africa address is searched inside quotes, only results containing that SA address will appear.
This will get rid of a near infinite amount of unwanted similar SA address that will not help in the reverse address lookup.
Unfortunately, you'll need to search multiple variations of the SA address due to the fact that there is not a uniform structure to how addresses are displayed in South Africa.
You'll know what we are talking about when we say South African addresses are not uniform if we give you an example. An address such as 09-123 Fake Street can be displayed as,
9 123 Fake St SA
9-123 Fake St SA
09 123 Fake St SA
09-123 Fake St SA
9 123 Fake Street SA
09 123 Fake Street SA
9-123 Fake Street SA
09-123 Fake Street SA
Unit 9 123 Fake Street SA
Unit #9 123 Fake Street SA
123 Fake Street (9) SA
and many more variations.
You can see why an Exact Phrase Match would not work well on a full SA address. To solve this issue you can search the address in Exact Phrase Match chunks:
"123 Fake Street" "State" or "123" "Fake St" "State."
As for the unit number, just don't include it. If you are doing an Exact Phrase Match on a SA address, you'll be given only a few results. This will be easy to go through. A unit number will be an unnecessary wild card that will throw your results off.
Address Databases in South Africa
After you're done your Google.co.za research, you can move onto South African financial databases. Unfortunately, these are usually not free but are often just asking for a small fee.
Many South Africans have mortgages on their property. If they have a mortgage, they will often have what's called a "lien." We could go more in-depth on what a lien is, but it's basically collateral on your loan. A person's lien is typically available publicly in SA.
Then there are South African property records. If you know the exact SA address, you can lookup the SA property records.
The method of keeping property records changes based on SA government jurisdictions
This means you'll have to do a little digging to find out how to get these records based on your local SA government jurisdiction.
Now, it should be obvious to you why paid SA address lookup services cannot be used. These reverse address lookup services are almost always disingenuous and if they can get information on a South Africa address, it will be fragmented address information that has been aggregated from Google.co.za. This holds true even for services that claim to be the best free reverse address lookup service in South Africa. These free address lookup services are usually just trying to acquire and sell your personal data. Thankfully, a basic DIY reverse address lookup can be done simply and without a paid or free service. All one has to do is utilize Google.co.za and databases. After these two basic steps, an address search will yield the most accurate information available.
About the Author
Peter Sandru is an Instructor & Co-Founder of NDIL with over 14 years as a Professional Investigator. Peter has spent more than a decade conducting investigations throughout the world, primarily for corporations, law firms, and government agencies. Peter has assisted in the creation of many investigative training programs in various capacities. Peter has helped many South Africans on their journey to learning to utilize search engines to their full potential.