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Conviction •

Legal alert: Why duplicate community scheme disputes are rejected in South Africa

Dear Conviction, 

There is a dispute in my complex involving the body corporate, and it is in court. The trustees took the same case to the Community Schemes Ombud Service, and now there are two cases about the same dispute. 

I do not know much about law, but is it not redundant to have the same issue before two different legal forums? Would that not cause double the lawyer costs? What if one places rules differently from the other? 

Ashwini Singh provides the following insight: 

The Communi...
Conviction •

Navigating sectional title disputes: Choosing between ombud and court

Dear Conviction  I was wondering if you could advise me on a sectional title matter. I have a dispute in my complex, and I have heard that I can escalate it to the Community Schemes Ombud Service.  However, I also read that the same dispute can be taken to court. My question is: how do I know if the dispute falls under the Ombud’s jurisdiction or if it should go to court? I am asking because I understand that the Ombud does not allow legal representation.  Ashwini Singh provides the following in...
Conviction •

Noisy neighbour running business: What are your rights in sectional title schemes?

I live in a townhouse complex in Johannesburg. I have a problem with my neighbour who runs a business that seemingly involves virtual lectures. I have no problem with this, but the issue is the noise. I can hear everything and may as well be part of his class. 
On two occasions I have approached him, and he apologised, but only to do the same thing again. Do I call the police, report to the body corporate? 
Ashwini Singh advises: 
You would have to report the noise to the trustees of your body c...
The International Journal for Crime, Law, and AI •

Artificial Intelligence in the Courtroom: A Marvel or a Menace?

“Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” have undoubtedly become international catchphrases in the late 2010s and early 2020s. With the concept formerly conceived in the 1950s (Reiling 2020, p.2), AI is widely understood as the utilisation of technology to automate tasks that traditionally require human intelligence (Surden 2019, p.1307). Dr Dory Reiling (2020, p.2), a former senior judge of the Amsterdam court, defines intelligence as...
Conviction •

Making sectional title rules that work: A practical guide

Sectional title schemes are like little cities. While cities have by-laws, sectional title schemes have rules which are divided into two categories: management rules and conduct rules.

Management rules

As the name suggests, management rules relate to the management of a scheme. These rules can come in the form of Prescribed Management Rules as described under the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations, or as established specifically for a scheme in terms of subsection 10(2)(a) of the...
Conviction •

When the law is broken: The consequences of ignoring rules in your complex

There are many unit owners who don’t follow the law; some trustees even. At my complex, there’s a trustee who gave himself permission to keep a dog (we are a no pets area). But no one wants to do anything because he a doctor.


Ashwini Singh Advises:


If the dog is affecting you (ie it keeps entering your section/Exclusive Use Area), then you can approach the Community Schemes Ombud Service for an order against the owner prohibiting the dog from entering your section or Exclusive Use Area. If...
SowetanLIVE •

Rules for a reason

Eyebrows were raised when a Durban-based ethics researcher refused to recuse himself as a trustee in the body corporate he served when he had a conflict of interest in a matter being considered.The trustee, who used his profession as an ethics researcher to rationalise his unethical actions, continued to be involved in decision-making within the body corporate despite his personal interests. This begs the question: can trustees influence decisions in which they have a conflict of interest?The an...
Conviction •

Protection order among the consequences of trespassing in an 'Exclusive Use Area'

With many South Africans opting to reside within community schemes for the purposes of safety, one of the most popular types of residential schemes are sectional title developments. Stemming from these complexes is a recurring dispute: Exclusive Use Areas (better known as “EUAs”).

An Exclusive Use Area is as the name denotes – an area by which an owner holds the exclusive right to use and enjoy, to the exclusion of the other members of the scheme. EUAs can come in the form of garden areas, cour...
Conviction •

Between a rock and a foul-smelling place

Ashwini Singh

A precarious predicament unfolded in a Durban sectional title scheme recently. Absurdly, a rock was found in the complex’s sewer system, causing a major pipe blockage.

But here is where the real problem arose: a unit owner prevented plumbers from attending to the sewer system by not giving them access to the manhole in his unit where the rock was stuck. Insofar as the complex is concerned, can such selfish actions of a unit owner be entertained in a sectional title scheme setting...
Everything Property •

Exclusive Use Area boundaries in sectional title schemes

The concept of exclusive use rights can be complex to navigate in a sectional title scheme. However, not taking the time to understand the boundaries of a scheme’s Exclusive Use Areas can break a body corporate’s bank, writes Ashwini Singh.
WORDS & PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Singh says that, as the name suggests, an Exclusive Use Area (“EUA”) is a part of a sectional title scheme’s common property to which a specific section owner holds the exclusive use right over (to the exclusion of the other owners in...
Everything Property •

Residential sectional title schemes are not open for businesses

Sectional title schemes in South Africa are equal parts popular as they are restrictive, writes Ad Hoc Lecturer in law, Ashwini Singh. She says that, with 56 000 schemes registered nationally, they are all bound by the same regulations: one being that owners and occupiers are prohibited from running businesses within their sections in residential schemes.
WORDS & PHOTO: SUPPLIED
The Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations (the “STSM Regulations”) create Prescribed Management Rules (“PMRs...
Tempo •

First Ever TEDx Youth @ ACS Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s youth is active, exciting, and inspiring as evidenced by the first TEDxYouth event held recently at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi (ACS). Organized by high school students Dina Shriem (Palestinian) and Dennis Hilgendorf (American), and adviser Lane Graciano, the theme of the event was “tell us a story,” featuring 10 presenters: three students and seven teachers. Teachers’ topics included reasons to read classic literature and questioning the meaning of education. But the...

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