Neighbours’ ‘petty’ row runs up R1.7m bill
Lights, phone, cameras and lots of legal action in Camps Bay
Bright lights shining into bedroom windows, foul-mouthed tirades, intimidation, nervous breakdowns, constant litigation, being shown the finger and called a “Karen”.
This is the state of play in affluent Camps Bay, a popular tourist destination in Cape Town with panoramic ocean views, where an eight-year feud between neighbours has hit rock bottom.
Retired chartered accountant Trevor Forster and businessman Clem Kirst will face off in court on November 14 to determine if a protection order Forster obtained against Kirst should be made final.
The properties are about 20m apart in the suburb, where vacant plots sell for up to R18m.
Forster, 63, who runs a guest house, and Kirst, 51, have never seen eye-to-eye since Kirst moved to the neighbourhood in 2014. In his application for a protection order in the Cape Town magistrate’s court, Forster said he had “numerous photos and videos of [Kirst] ... to prove his various acts of noise nuisances and harassment”.
“Until ... 2014 I enjoyed peace and quiet, tranquillity and harmony with my fellow neighbours and guests. All that changed when [Kirst] moved in,” reads the affidavit.
“Since then my life has been plagued, unbearably, by shouting, loud swearing, domestic violence, dogs barking, hooting, revving of motorbikes, picking of arguments with my guests, resulting in numerous complaints, to name but a few.”
The high court granted him an interdict in 2018 silencing Kirst, who allegedly “blatantly disregarded it”.
The affidavit cited the “shining of continued bright and piercing white light into my property despite the undertaking from [Kirst’s] wife to reposition the lights and despite correspondence from my legal representative requesting that be remedied. These lights are shone directly into my guests’ bedrooms and cause sleep disturbances.”
Forster said Kirst stared at him when he drove out of his property, swore, had an altercation with his guests and recorded them. He added that Kirst “followed me threateningly and persistently” in Hout Bay, “flashing a finger at me at the traffic circle”. He suffered “two nervous breakdowns”.
The magistrate’s court granted him an interim protection order against Kirst, with Forster saying litigation had cost him R1.7m.
Kirst, in his affidavit, said: “From the onset I wish to state that [Forster] has been blatantly dishonest, vexatious and purposefully lying in his founding affidavit.”
When his family moved to Camps Bay, Forster “introduced himself with a bottle of wine”.
“Unfortunately my family and I had much to do and did not respond as he wished,” Kirst’s affidavit said.
“I noticed the disappointment on [his] face. It was not my intention nor my family’s to commence our neighbourly relations on a bad footing. It seems this is the perception that was taken up by [Forster] as thereafter I have been in and out of court defending my rights to use and enjoy my property.
“In fact, since 2018 up to date I have had to attend the magistrate’s court as well as the high court, and there have been newspaper articles published about the circumstances of this application as well.”
Kirst said the “severe psychological emotional harm” endured by Forster was self-inflicted and urged the court not to grant a final protection order against him.
A statement by Forster to police in March reveals how relations had deteriorated.
“Mrs Kirst launched a tirade of allegations against myself and my neighbour ... [she was] joined by Mr Kirst [who] also [recorded] me. They shouted at me and came into my space, brought ... children ... who also recorded and shouted ... They started calling my neighbour a Karen,” it reads. “Karen” is a pejorative term that suggests a woman is over-priviliged or demanding.
“I told Mr Kirst they are both drunk ... And Mr Kirst admitted by shouting: ‘You are absolutely right.’ He turned aggressively towards me and said: ‘Are you going to assault me?’, putting his face and his phone in my face and stepping towards me. Throughout he was shouting and repeatedly accusing me of drinking ... attempting to denigrate my sense of self-worth.”
Kirst’s lawyer, William Booth, described Forster as “a constant litigator”.
“At the moment there is a harassment case pending in the Cape Town magistrate’s court which was struck off the roll more than a week ago and then re-enrolled,” he said.
“I am defending it on behalf of Mr Kirst, who is also ... filing a harassment case against Mr Forster because they stay on the same road. My view is that this is a matter that should not be dealt with by the courts. It is extremely petty.”