The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ordered a homeowner who owes over R107,000 in unpaid levies and electricity, to settle his debt or stay in the dark.
The order was made after the Body Corporate sought relief in the high court to disconnect power from the defaulting homeowner.
In the application, the Body Corporate said that Jansen Madike Katisi had breached his obligations regarding the payment of the levies and utilities over a period of 25 months from February 2021 to March 2023.
During that period, Katisi's arrears escalated to R107,940. and from the amount, R16,610 was in respect of unpaid electricity.
In his answering affidavit, Katisi conceded his indebtedness to the Body Corporate.
He explained that the effects Covid-19 impacted him negatively as the breadwinner in his household and due to lack of income, he has been placed in an unfavourable position since 2020.
He tendered a payment arrangement on the basis that he would pay R8,000 every month to settle the outstanding levies and utilities.
He said he had informed the Body Corporate that he was amenable to making the unit available for rental purposes in order to derive income that would be allocated towards settling the arrears.
However, the Body Corporate insisted that it wants authorisation to engage the services of an electrician to disconnect the electricity in Katisi's unit in the event he fails to pay the money in 10 days.
The power will remain disconnected until he settles the debt.
Katisi argued that the Body Corporate was not entitled to cut the electricity without prior agreement between themselves and the relief sought would affect his constitutional rights.
The Body Corporate acknowledged that it cannot arbitrarily disconnect his electricity hence it sought relief in the high court to pull the plug.
Judge Leonie Windell considered both arguments and said it should be noted that for survival, the Body Corporate depends on the recovery of levies and municipal charges. In addition, it's obliged to pay Eskom, therefore the recovery of electrical charges is critical.
Judge Windell added that Katisi benefited from electricity without paying his dues, which is detrimental to the financial stability of the Body Corporate and other homeowners.
Moreover, the judge added that the disconnection will put the Body Corporate in a position where it will be able to cap its losses, whilst it attempts to recover the arrears and at the very least, it will be able to prevent the situation from becoming worse and avoiding the risk of Eskom disconnecting electricity supply to every other unit in the complex.
"The disconnection of electricity can operate or function as a preventative measure to safeguard other owners by ensuring that the financial responsibility is shared equally and proportionately to avoid financial hardships and the repercussions thereto," she said.
Judge Windell ordered Katisi to pay the money with interest rate of 11.25%.
"The electricity supply shall remain disconnected until such amount plus interest on that amount at the rate of 11.25% per annum compounded monthly is paid," she added.
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