We are often confronted by very unhappy owners at Annual and/or Special General Meetings about the slow pace of collections from other owners that owe Hundreds of Thousands of Rands in arrears in monthly contributions.

There is also very little chance that a defaulting owners would pay his/her electricity and/or water but not pay the monthly levy contributions, unless there are Pre-paid Water and Electricity meters installed

Owners rightfully dissatisfied with having to carry the burden of their fellow owners not doing their part by contributing what is due to ensure the continued success of the Community Scheme and often demand the immediate termination of the defaulting owners’ utilities by simply turning of their Water and Electricity supplies. Unfortunately, this course of action is illegal, unless authorized by the High Court Order to do so.

A body corporate’s disconnection of electricity and limiting water supplies to a unit without an owner’s agreement or the authority of a High Court Order is illegal and contrary to the principles of South African common law. It is known as an ‘act of spoliation’. The body corporate cannot ‘take the law into its own hands’ to collect outstanding levies; nor can it suspend other services to ‘persuade’ the owner to pay the arrears: it must use the Community Schemes Ombud Service (‘CSOS’) and/or court processes to collect levies.

We have also analyzed various outcomes in Courts where the application by the Scheme would either be successful or dismissed and we highlight 3 such cases:

Established that disconnection without prior agreement could infringe on constitutional rights and, schemes cannot disconnect electricity for arrear levies but only for arrear electricity charges.

Body Corporate The Straight v Katisi (3 January 2025)

An older matter, that took place in 2015, Cathkin Peak South Body Corporate asked the South Gauteng High Court to order a money judgment on the full outstanding amount of levies should the owners not settle the debt immediately, the body corporate would be allowed to disconnect the electricity and restrict/limit the water supply to 6000 litres per a month if the outstanding levies were not settled in full. The court granted the Application and requested the Applicant to appoint a contractor to attend to the disconnection and restriction respectfully.

What is required to ensure that the High Courts approve the application to disconnect Utilities?

The Judge confirmed that the Body Corporate has the power to enter into agreements with owners. The Judge further emphasized that schemes can only disconnect electricity and restrict water supply for arrears electricity and water charges and not arrear levies.

There is very little to no chance that a defaulting member will agree to the disconnection or restriction of utilities and as such It is imperative that schemes apply to the High court for disconnection or restricting utilities.

Considering each of these cases and the summaries provided by several attorneys they all agree on one thing: Due process must be followed; no “short cuts” (eg don’t disconnect and then apply for disconnection afterwards).

We are confident that there will be more cases like these that will provide Community Schemes direction in terms of the rights of the majority of owners that pay their contributions religiously each month versus the rights of the defaulting owners.