Midlands Estate Homeowners Association v ZNM Properties (Z Mabhoza)

The Community Schemes Ombud Service received a dispute-resolution application brought by Midlands Estate Homeowners Association against ZNM Properties (Z Mabhoza). The matter was being adjudicated under the amended Practice Directive for Dispute Resolution, 2019. Before adjudication on the merits, the parties were afforded an opportunity to provide final written submissions. The applicant then requested that the application be withdrawn because the parties had reached a settlement agreement, as reflected in email correspondence received from Ms Rachel Barends on 20 November 2023.

• Whether the matter should remain on the adjudication roll after the applicant requested withdrawal following settlement.
• What procedural order should be made under sections 53 and 54 of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 when the parties have settled before a merits determination.

The matter was removed from the adjudication roll and the file was closed.

Where a CSOS applicant requests withdrawal because the parties have settled, and there is no longer a live dispute requiring adjudication, the appropriate procedural course is to remove the matter from the roll and close the file rather than determine the merits.

No substantive obiter dicta appear from the text. The order is purely procedural and contains no additional non-binding observations.

This decision is procedurally significant rather than substantively important. It illustrates the CSOS approach where parties settle before an adjudication on the merits: the adjudicator may remove the matter from the roll and close the file instead of issuing substantive relief. It does not establish a notable precedent on the underlying rights of parties in community schemes.