The Trustees of Cordova Body Corporate v D. & O. N. Nkosi

The applicant, the Trustees of Cordova Body Corporate, brought an application under section 38 of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 (CSOS Act) seeking relief under section 39(1)(e) for payment of arrear levies. The respondent, D. & O. N. Nkosi, is the owner of Unit 6 in the Cordova scheme at 124 Bidston Road, Manor Gardens, Durban. The body corporate alleged that the respondent had failed to pay monthly levies since March 2023 and that, despite attempts to secure payment, the account remained in arrears. The applicant submitted a statement showing an outstanding amount of R16 232,25 calculated to 1 November 2023. The respondent was invited to file written submissions but failed to respond by the deadline of 8 November 2023. The matter was therefore determined on the papers after a certificate of non-resolution had been issued and the dispute referred to adjudication.

• Whether the body corporate was entitled under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act to an order compelling payment of arrear levies by the respondent.
• Whether the evidence submitted by the applicant established, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent owed R16 232,25 in outstanding levies.
• Whether, as an incident of ownership in a sectional title scheme, the respondent was legally liable to pay levies raised by the body corporate.
• Whether any costs order should be made against the respondent.

The application was upheld. The respondent was ordered to pay the applicant R16 232,25 in outstanding levies in four equal instalments of R4 058,06, commencing on 1 December 2023 and with the last instalment due on 1 March 2024. If the respondent defaulted, the full outstanding amount would immediately become due and payable. No order as to costs was made.

An owner in a sectional title scheme is legally obliged, by virtue of ownership and the statutory scheme under the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act, to pay levies validly raised by the body corporate. Where a body corporate proves outstanding levies on a balance of probabilities, and the claim is unopposed, an adjudicator may grant relief under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act ordering payment of the arrears.

The adjudicator made general observations about evidentiary assessment, including that relevant evidence must be weighed according to credibility and probabilities and that proof is determined on a balance of probabilities. The order also referred to legal principles concerning interest and recovery costs under prescribed management rules and case law, but these observations were not fully reflected in the final operative order, which awarded only the arrear levies and no costs. The judgment does not clearly determine a separate binding ruling on interest despite references to it in the reasoning and executive summary.

The decision confirms the CSOS's role as an accessible statutory forum for bodies corporate to recover unpaid levies from owners in sectional title schemes. It reinforces the principle that levy liability attaches to ownership and that uncontested documentary proof of arrears can suffice to obtain a payment order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act. The order is also a practical example of adjudicators structuring repayment by instalments while preserving the body corporate's right to accelerate the debt upon default.