I want to implement bulk availability checking of .co.za domain names as accurately as possible by checking for the existence of SOA
If the service offered on the Web "limits consecutive checks for a given IP", it is probably for good reasons (both to preserve the system and to make life more difficult for speculators). Calling it "archaic" certainly will not help.
Also, a lot of DNS requests may be seen as a violation of the terms of service and/or as a dictionary attack and may (disclaimer: I do not know the policies of co.za) lead to blacklisting.