Pretoria - The body corporate of a townhouse complex east of Pretoria turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to interdict two residents from refusing access to plumbers to replace aged water pipes which run under their carport.
Wingate Body Corporate, in asking for an urgent order, told the court that there had been severe water leaks in the complex since early last year which were costing them a lot of money.
They said plumbers hired by the body corporate to fix the problem were being refused permission to replace the rusty and old pipes running beneath the carport of one of the units.
The body corporate said the conduct of the two owners, identified in the judgment as Nobulungisa Pamba and Kanya Kopele, was obstructive as there were recurrent water pipe bursts.
It was said that the pipes urgently needed to be replaced in order to alleviate the problem.
In addition, it said, the damage caused by the recurring water leakages was affecting the agreement the body corporate had with its insurance company.
The court was told that in February last year there were four major leaks in that month alone.
It was also claimed that the owners of the unit in dispute were harassing both her and the plumber by shouting abuse.
The court was asked to intervene and interdict the owners from interfering with the plumber and the body corporate in their business of fixing the pipes and from threatening them.
The owners, on the other hand, took the legal point that the body corporate was not entitled to approach the high court as there were other bodies to deal with issues involving the administration of sectional title schemes. They suggested that the Community Scheme Ombud Services would be a better forum.
The court said the body corporate was subject to the rules of the ombud and it should have approached this forum before it turned to the court. Judge M Mbongwe said the ombud’s function included a dispute resolution mechanism for community properties.
The judge said the courts did not necessarily need to entertain all matters brought before it, if there were alternative and more cost effective options to resolve disputes.
The body corporate earlier argued that it brought the application to the high court “because it can” – an argument which was not accepted by the court.
The respondents also disputed that the matter was as urgent as claimed by the body corporate.
The judge said according to the body corporate, the water leaks already started in February last year. The body corporate decided in June that year to undertake major water pipe repairs – five months after the problem first occurred.
The judge frowned upon the fact that the body corporate only claimed that the matter was so urgent that the court had to come to its rescue after it waited for months after the first leak before it called a plumber.
Judge Mbongwe said the court would not entertain this application and slapped the body corporate with the legal costs.
Pretoria News