Executive Committee of Coral Ridge Homeowners Association v T Mupombwa

The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) received an application for dispute resolution dated 5 September 2023 brought by the Executive Committee of Coral Ridge Homeowners Association against T Mupombwa. The matter was adjudicated under the amended Practice Directive for Dispute Resolution, 2019. The parties were afforded an opportunity to provide final written submissions. The applicant, through its representative Rubrix Management Group and pursuant to a resolution dated 23 May 2023, requested withdrawal of the application insofar as it concerned arrear levies, stating that the dispute had been resolved. On that basis, the adjudicator considered the matter for removal from the adjudication roll.

• Whether the dispute should remain on the adjudication roll after the applicant indicated that the arrear levies dispute had been resolved and sought withdrawal.
• Whether the file should be closed in light of the resolution of the dispute between the parties.

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

Where a CSOS applicant indicates that the dispute has been resolved and seeks withdrawal, and there is no remaining live controversy requiring adjudication, the adjudicator may remove the matter from the roll and close the file rather than decide the merits.

No substantive obiter dicta appear from the text. The order is brief and confined to recording the withdrawal request, the resolution of the dispute, and the consequent removal of the matter from the roll.

The order is procedurally significant rather than jurisprudentially substantive. It illustrates CSOS practice where a community-scheme dispute, particularly one concerning arrear levies, is removed from the roll once the parties indicate that the dispute has been resolved and withdrawal is sought. The adjudicator made no determination on the substantive rights or obligations of the parties.