Gloves off as Trafalgar takes on the city of Tshwane

Trafalgar Property Management is taking its six-year long battle with the Tshwane Metropolitan Council back to court after the council failed to comply with a court order against it. Attorney Dewald de Beer says his client will apply to have the matter placed on the unopposed court roll after the city failed to meet the 15-day deadline to file an opposing affidavit. This was after the council indicated it was going to oppose an application to have the Tshwane Metro declared in contempt of court.

The application was lodged after the city apparently failed to comply with a court order. The dispute first arose in 2005 when Trafalgar discovered that around 30 body corporates under its management in Pretoria were being billed for individual owner's arrear electricity accounts. These are the accounts for which body corporates are not legally liable for under South African law. Trafalgar says the discrepancy was immediately reported to the Metro which gave the assurance it would correct the accounts. However, this was in vain.  "...No action was taken and month after month Trafalgar clients continued to be billed not just for the same arrear accounts, but for additional charges accrued including final demands, final cut offs and interest." A statement says the bodies corporate involved soon accrued debts running into hundreds of thousands of rands.

To add insult to injury, the council then began disconnecting services almost on a monthly basis. This was not done to single units deemed to be in arrears, but to entire blocks and sectional title complexes. "These disconnections exacting a reconnection fee, and taking anything between four hours and two days to connect," a Trafalgar statement said.

Trafalgar's Pretoria branch manager, Adele Olivier, says attempts to resolve the matter have been met with "complete disregard". "The council's actions have been typified by what seems to be blatant laziness, sheer incompetence and the total waste of taxpayers' money," Olivier said.

Trafalgar sought legal help in November 2008, culminating in an interdict against the council prohibiting it from:

• Charging arrear electricity in respect of the individual units to body corporate accounts.

• Discontinuing services to entire complexes or blocks in respect of the arrear accounts of individual units.

The council was also ordered to rectify the body corporates' accounts as well as to pay the legal costs of the applicants.

Trafalgar says the council remained in contempt of court from September 2009 when the order was first made against the Metro, until April 11 2011. During this time, Trafalgar says the council continued to send out incorrect bills and to cut services. Trafalgar says the council advised on May 3 2011 that all accounts had been rectified, making it in compliance with the court order. However, Olivier says Trafalgar found that only a third of the affected accounts had in fact been rectified. The council had also failed to file an opposing affidavit within the prescribed time.

Olivier says the whole debacle has compromised market value of the affected properties. The Tshwane council was not immediately forthcoming in answering the allegations against it.

The Tshwane Metro says the matter is sub judice and it is not in a position to comment as yet.

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