NERSA’s Reseller’s Guidelines

This article considers the legal implications for various parties of NERSA’s recently published Reseller’s Tariff, with specific reference to the impact on property owners and managers within the jurisdiction of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”). The authors only consider certain aspects of the Reseller’s Guidelines; a full exposition of same is beyond the
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Three Strikes Rule – Is It Out?

This article considers whether the “Three Strikes Rule” that is often utilised by landlords to create an instant cancellation mechanism in the event of a tenant repetitively breaching a lease, is still valid in terms of the amendments made to our Common Law of Landlord and Tenants by the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
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Illegal Buildings

This article examines the legal rights of property owners and occupiers when dealing with illegal buildings (which are buildings that are built contrary to the approved plans on file at the municipality, or buildings that are built in contravention of any zoning, town planning, or title deed condition or restrictive covenant). The Law This issue
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Liability for Special Levies

This article examines the legal issue of whether the purchaser or seller of an immovable property is responsible for the payment of special levies raised by the body corporate or the home owners association concerned before transfer occurs. Basic Context When a property is located within a sectional title scheme or within an estate governed
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Case Note: Land Access Movement of South Africa and Others v Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and Others (CCT40/15) [2016] ZACC 22 (28 July 2016)

Summary This case dealt with the constitutional validity of the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act (“the Amendment Act”). The aim of the Act was to revive the lodgement of land claims in the Post-Apartheid era. The Applicant’s case was two-fold. The primary challenge sought a declaration that the Amendment Act, in its entirety, was
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Does a general valuation roll ever close?

This article examines the legal question of whether a general valuation roll ever ‘closes’, such that no further objections can be lodged to the information contained on it. Why do we care? Sometimes property owners (or other interested parties) only discover that a property has been incorrectly over or undervalued, or categorised, for the purposes
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What the Consumer Protection Act Means for Commercial Property Owners

Introduction Commercial property owners who lease out their properties must ensure that they are fully informed of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (the “Act”) as it places onerous requirements on “suppliers” as regards the management of lease agreements for the purposes of protecting “consumers”. A “consumer” (as defined in the
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COJ’s By-Law on Problem Properties

Introduction The City of Johannesburg (“City”) recently promulgated its “By-law on Problem Properties” (“Bylaws”). We wrote a previous article commenting on the difficulties that the Draft By-law on Problem Properties pose. This article looks at problems caused by the promulgated (final) version, which is now legally in force. For convenience, some of the content herein
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What type of rates clearance certificate is a seller legally obliged to obtain?

Introduction Following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s Mathabathe judgment in 2013, this area of practice has become fraught with risks for buyers, sellers, banks, estate agents, attorneys, and many others. Every property acquisition can now result in unintended consequences for the unaware. This article explores the question “what type of Rates Clearance Certificate” (“RCC”) a
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Free Basic Electricity: Do you have a right to it?

Introduction Electricity has become an integral part of daily life and it cannot be disputed that it has made daily living a little more efficient. Considering the current energy crisis and frequent power cuts in the form of “loadshedding”, is there a duty on government to provide free basic electricity to the people of South
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