Francis View Body Corporate v Barbara Ziyane

The applicant, Francis View Body Corporate, is the body corporate of a sectional title/community scheme. The respondent, Barbara Ziyane, is the registered owner of Unit 23, Francis View, Downham Avenue, Mondeor, Gauteng. The body corporate brought an application under section 38 read with section 39(1)(e) of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 seeking payment of arrear levies. It alleged that the respondent had undertaken to pay the arrears but failed to do so, despite discussions and emails. As at 4 July 2023, the respondent's arrear levy account stood at R25 386.28, supported by a statement of account. The matter was referred directly to adjudication without conciliation in terms of the CSOS Practice Directive. The respondent filed no submissions, sought no extension, and the matter proceeded unopposed.

• Whether the body corporate had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent was indebted to it for arrear levies in the amount of R25 386.28.
• Whether an adjudication order in terms of section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act should be granted for payment of the arrear contributions.
• Whether, despite the full amount being due, it was just and fair to permit payment of the arrears by instalments while current levies remained payable.

The application succeeded. The adjudicator ordered that the respondent is indebted to the applicant for R25 386.28; must pay R2 115.52 per month for 12 months from receipt of the order; must simultaneously pay current levies, with the first payment due on 1 December 2023; and that if the respondent defaults on due date, the full outstanding amount becomes immediately due and payable. No order as to costs was made.

An owner of a unit in a sectional title/community scheme is legally liable for levies duly raised by the body corporate, because liability for levies is an incident of ownership. Where the body corporate proves the arrears on a balance of probabilities, and the claim is uncontested, an adjudicator may grant relief under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act ordering payment of the arrear contributions, including by way of an instalment arrangement coupled with an acceleration clause on default.

The adjudicator's statement that it was in the interests of justice and fairness to grant the respondent additional time to settle the arrears appears to be a discretionary, equitable observation rather than a necessary legal determination for establishing liability. The notice on the right of appeal under section 57 of the CSOS Act was also informational and not part of the substantive ratio.

The decision reinforces the principle in South African sectional title and community schemes law that levy liability attaches to ownership of a unit and that a body corporate is entitled, and indeed obliged, to collect levies from owners. It also illustrates the CSOS adjudication process as an accessible statutory mechanism for recovery of arrear levies, including in unopposed matters, and shows that adjudicators may craft equitable payment arrangements while still enforcing the body corporate's statutory entitlement.