Summer Ridge Body Corporate v Mihlali Mahlanga

The applicant, Summer Ridge Body Corporate, is the body corporate of a sectional title scheme (SS 266/2022) situated in Umhlanga, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The respondent, Mihlali Mahlanga, is the registered owner of unit 402 in the scheme and therefore a member of the scheme. 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 levy contributions. The application was lodged with CSOS on 4 September 2023. Conciliation failed, and a certificate of non-resolution was issued on 9 November 2023, after which the matter was referred for adjudication. The applicant alleged that the respondent had failed to pay levies amounting to R26 521.70 and submitted a breakdown of the contribution statement, together with authority for charging interest under PMR 21(3)(c) and a trustee resolution dated 4 May 2022. The respondent did not dispute liability on the merits, but stated that he would settle the outstanding amount at some stage by instalments.

• Whether CSOS had jurisdiction to determine the dispute under sections 38 and 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act.
• Whether the body corporate had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent owed arrear levy contributions in the amount of R26 521.70.
• Whether the respondent's offer to pay by instalments affected the body corporate's entitlement to an order for payment of the outstanding levies.
• Whether a costs order should be made in the adjudication.

The application was granted. The respondent was ordered to pay arrear levy contributions of R26 521.70 in full on or before 30 April 2024. No order as to costs was made.

A body corporate may obtain an order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act for payment of arrear levies where it proves, on a balance of probabilities, that the levies were duly raised under its statutory powers and remain unpaid by the owner. In a sectional title scheme, owners are obliged to pay levies when due, and such liability is not avoided by dissatisfaction with the levies or by an unsupported proposal to pay by instalments at a later stage.

The adjudicator observed that levies are the 'lifeblood' of shared living schemes and that non-payment can seriously destabilise a scheme by undermining maintenance, insurance, security, repair and the collective investment of owners. The adjudicator also made general remarks that parties in section 54 adjudications are usually expected to bear their own costs, with costs orders being more common in dismissals under section 53 for frivolous or vexatious matters.

This decision reinforces the principle in South African community schemes law that body corporates are entitled to recover properly raised levies from owners through CSOS adjudication. It underscores the centrality of levy payments to the viability of sectional title schemes and confirms that a respondent's proposal to pay later or by instalments does not, without more, defeat a body corporate's claim. The matter also illustrates the practical use of section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act as a cost-effective mechanism for levy recovery.