Couple fear cost of case

A COURT battle over a window has lost a Joburg couple at least R100 000 in investments after their lengthy property fight with their neighbour.

Yesterday, the couple, Sifiso Ntshangase and Vuyile Zikalala, of Greenstone Estate in Edenvale, Ekurhuleni, were again in court pursuing their case against their neighbour Tanja Edmondson and the Bushwillow Park Homeowners Association, and it seems their financial woes will continue.

The court ruled against Edmondson’s leave to appeal. Last year, she lost the case in which she claimed that the couple’s house plans would invade her privacy.

Ntshangase and Zikalala bought a piece of vacant land at the Greenstone Estate in February last year. Building plans at the estate are guided by the estate’s architectural guidelines, including that “no windows or balconies of the house shall overlook the living space of adjacent buildings unless approved by the architectural review committee and all affected neighbours”.

The couple gave their plans to Edmondson, in accordance with the rules, but she said one of the two balconies would overlook her property.

The couple replaced the balcony with an opaque window so that the person inside the house wouldn’t be able to see outside. They kept one balcony facing the street.

But Edmondson said she didn’t want a window of that size overlooking her property.

She was also unhappy with the large window in the domestic quarters because these were opposite her bedroom.

The couple’s lawyer, Tumi Molope, said her clients were now worried about the escalating legal costs.

She said though the leave of appeal had been dismissed, her clients were now bracing themselves for more costs as the neighbour planned to go to the Supreme Court of Appeal.