Estate living? It’s complex

Regulator scrutinises body corporate rules

● Wild parties and loud music are frowned on in most housing complexes and gated communities. But the body corporate at Morganwood Estate in Midrand has gone a step further — noisy residents face having their electricity cut off.

And if you are a resident of Eastlake, a block of flats in Florida, Johannesburg, you may not drink alcohol on your patio.

The rules of bodies corporate — which affect about 76,000 housing schemes around SA — are coming under scrutiny by the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), a regulatory authority for all community schemes in SA.

Some of the rules identified during a random survey by the Sunday Times include:

● Subjecting new tenants of Equestria Estate, eastern Pretoria, to criminal checks at a cost of R220 to the homeowner if done by the homeowners’ association;

● Banning “whirly bird” chimney cowls, ceremonial flags, as well as cottage-pane windows and doors at Westwood Estate in Westville, Durban;

● A 5km/h speed limit in the Grootvlei complex in Alberton, Gauteng;

● A ban on ritualistic slaughter of animals, and residents having to use a minimum of 80% indigenous plants to landscape gardens at the Lakeview Lifestyle Village in Scottburgh, on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast; and

● Curtain linings, shutters and blinds must be “white or of an earthy colour palette” and “harmonious to the general estate” at The Executive, La Lucia Ridge, north of Durban, where houses sell for up to R40m.

The body corporate at Lonehill Village Estate in Johannesburg is also looking into installing a “speed detection” device.

Last month, the former acting chief ombud, advocate Seeng Letele, published a circular identifying undesirable body corporate rules, including:

● The prohibition of slaughtering animals for ritual purposes;

● Disconnection of electricity for nonpayment of levies;

● Imposing penalties without due process;

● Imposing penalties equal to or more than double the monthly levy; and

● Setting speed limits and issuing fines in breach of the National Road Traffic Act.

Barbara Shingler, who acts on behalf of CSOS as an adjudicator of disputes between owners and bodies corporate, believes some body corporate rules are unconstitutional. “Their rules should be looked at every three to five years to ensure they’ve kept up with the law and with society’s expectations.”

She had come across a rule stating that trustees had the right to interview prospective tenants as they did not want a situation experienced previously in which prostitutes moved into the complex and plied their trade. “Do you think that the people are even going to admit to it?”

A resident who insisted on being identified only as the security manager at Morganwood Estate said they had never switched off anyone’s electricity. “There are some wild parties, especially with students. It’s just there as a guide and I actually think that rule will be scrapped eventually.”

CSOS spokesperson Wanda Lubelwana said it was illegal to cut off electricity for failure to meet body corporate rules. She said most of the undesirable rules came to the CSOS’s attention when community schemes submitted their rules when registering with the service, which was mandatory.

She said most of the complaints had been about the application of fines.

Riaan du Toit, chairman of Eastlake’s board of trustees, said although 13 groundfloor flat owners or their tenants were banned from having alcohol on their patios, the board hadn’t slapped fines on them or other residents who “stood outside their door with a beer”.

He said: “In a big complex, to try and maintain control and order is difficult. Everyone doesn’t act the same way, especially after having a few drinks, and that’s where the problem comes in.”

But two flat owners at Eastlake, Dawn Davids and Carol-Anne Marais, said they had no objection to residents consuming alcohol on their patios, “within acceptable limits”.

Hendrik Nieuwenhuis, estate manager of Equestria Estate, said criminal checks for tenants had been introduced to assist “in providing as minimal risk as possible” for investors, owners and residents. “Only with consent are the criminal checks conducted. The results are not public knowledge.”

Speaking for the directors of Westwood Estate, estate agent Michelle Schwartzel said that though estate rules were sometimes considered onerous, they “are essentially there to preserve the peace”.

In a big complex, to try and maintain control and order is difficult. Everyone doesn’t act the same way, especially after having a few drinks