Trustees of Akasia Body Corporate v CM Monoge

The applicant, the Trustees of Akasia Body Corporate, is the body corporate of a sectional title scheme governed by the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 and the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011. The respondent, CM Monoge, is the registered owner of section 50 in the scheme. The body corporate alleged that the respondent failed or neglected to pay monthly levies and ancillary charges, including CSOS levies, causing financial strain on the scheme and effectively shifting the burden to compliant owners. The applicant submitted a statement of account showing arrears and sought an order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act for payment of R40 856.91. The matter was referred to adjudication after conciliation failed. The respondent, despite being invited to make submissions, filed no response.

• Whether the applicant body corporate proved, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent was indebted to it for unpaid levies and ancillary charges.
• Whether a CSOS adjudicator could grant relief under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act ordering payment of the outstanding amount.
• Whether the amounts claimed were charges properly recoverable under the STSMA and prescribed management rules.
• What payment terms should be imposed in the adjudication order.

The application was granted. The respondent was declared indebted to the applicant in the amount of R40 856.91 in respect of levies and ancillary charges as of 22 February 2024. The respondent was ordered to pay that amount in 18 equal monthly instalments of R2 269.83, commencing on 1 April 2024 and thereafter on the first day of each succeeding month. No interest would accrue during the allowed payment period. The order did not affect the respondent's ongoing obligation to pay regular monthly levies and ancillary charges. If the respondent defaulted on any instalment, the full outstanding amount would immediately become due and payable. There was no order as to costs.

A body corporate in a sectional title scheme is entitled to recover unpaid levies and ancillary charges from a unit owner through a CSOS adjudication under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act where it proves the indebtedness on a balance of probabilities. Under the STSMA, owners are obliged to contribute to the body corporate's administrative and reserve funds, and levies validly raised become due and payable monthly. In the absence of a rebutting response from the owner, a properly supported levy statement may suffice to establish the debt.

The adjudicator observed that non-paying owners are effectively subsidised by compliant owners and that the body corporate cannot perform its statutory duties without funds from unit owners. These remarks explain the practical importance of levy enforcement but were not independently necessary to the dispositive finding once indebtedness had been proved. The discussion of the respondent being afforded indulgence through instalments and no-interest terms was also ancillary to the central determination of liability.

The matter illustrates the CSOS's role in enforcing body corporate levy obligations through paper-based adjudication under the CSOS Act. It confirms the ordinary principle in sectional title governance that owners are obliged to contribute to the financial sustainability of the scheme and that arrear levies and ancillary charges may be recovered by adjudication. The order is also practically significant because it demonstrates that an adjudicator may grant the substantive payment relief sought while tempering enforcement through an instalment arrangement and temporary suspension of interest.