Zodwa Mzayifani v The Trustees of Belhar Vista Body Corporate

The applicant, Zodwa Mzayifani, is the owner of unit D156 in the Belhar Vista Body Corporate in Cape Town. The dispute arose after the body corporate passed a resolution imposing special levies. The respondent contended that owners could split payment over months and that the applicant failed to pay in the manner set out by the body corporate, whereupon her account was handed over for collection. As a result, an amount of R350 was debited to her levy account as legal fees. The applicant maintained that her account had been handed over when she was not in arrears and sought an order directing the respondent to cancel and remove the R350 legal fee from her account. The matter proceeded under sections 38 and 39(1)(c) and (e) of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 after conciliation failed and a certificate of non-resolution was issued.

• Whether the body corporate was entitled to debit the applicant's levy account with R350 in legal fees after handing over her account for collection.
• Whether legal costs charged by a body corporate for collection of alleged arrears must be taxed or otherwise authorised before being debited to a member's account.
• Whether the contribution or amount levied against the applicant was incorrectly determined or unreasonable under section 39(1)(c) and (e) of the CSOS Act.

The relief sought by the applicant was granted. The respondent was ordered to remove the R350.00 legal fees from the applicant's levy account and to issue the applicant with a revised levy account without the legal fees within 10 days of the order. No order as to costs was made.

A body corporate is not entitled to debit an owner's levy account with legal costs for collection unless those costs are reasonable and have been taxed, agreed by the member, or otherwise authorised by consent, judgment, or order as contemplated in PMR 25(4) and 25(5). In the absence of proof that the legal costs were taxed or otherwise properly authorised, the charge is impermissible and must be removed.

The adjudicator observed, by reference to Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate Management Association II (RF) NPC v Singh & Others, that the relationship between a community scheme association and its members is contractual in nature and that owners are generally bound by the scheme's rules and resolutions upon purchasing property in the scheme. The adjudicator also noted that the special levy resolution itself was not in dispute.

This adjudication is significant in community schemes practice because it confirms that a body corporate may not simply load legal collection charges onto an owner's levy account without proper legal basis. It reinforces the operation of PMR 25(4) and 25(5), especially the requirement that legal costs must be taxed, agreed, or otherwise authorised before being debited. The ruling is an important illustration of CSOS oversight over levy-related disputes and the protection of owners against unauthorised charges in sectional title governance.