Serengeti estate fines property owner R832 000

20-06-2013
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Moneyweb
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A Kempton Park man has been hit with an R832 000 fine - including one for his house being painted too white - after a dispute with the homeowners' association of his estate. The fine was also for working on a Saturday and planting non-indigenous plants - but the homeowners' association said most of it was for living on his premises without an occupation certificate.

But Tom Lessing said he believed the fine was in retaliation for his ongoing battle against the Serengeti Park Owners Association (SPOA) for its alleged disregard of the national traffic laws on the roads of the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate.

In March, Lessing made a complaint to Chief Superintendent Leon Saaiman of the Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD). His e-mail said the estate's security and management staff were riding unlicensed motorised quadricycles (quadbikes) on the roads, which was a contravention of the National Road Traffic Act. But when the association's management saw a copy of the complaint - which Lessing said was meant to be confidential - he took up the services of the Justice Project South Africa.

Early last month, he learnt he had been hit with R832 000 "building penalties". The SPOA denied that the penalties were new, and Lessing has since repainted his property.

Although the estate's rules state that one can be fined R2 000 "per incident" of building infringements, they don't state whether this fine accumulates over time.

"I've never denied that I've got an obligation to comply (with the regulations)," said Lessing, who questioned why there was no time frame set out in the rules. "But who do you know that can afford nearly a million rand in fines?"

The Justice Project South Africa have said the association's board have to answer why they are contravening traffic laws and how they got hold of a copy of the complaint made to Saaiman.

"...It can only be reasonably concluded that Chief Superintendent Saaiman forwarded his complaint to them," said Justice Project South Africa chairman Howard Dembovsky in a letter to mayor Ekurhuleni Mondli Gungubele.

EMPD spokesman Wilfred Kgasago denied a leak of confidential material.

Though the EMPD confirmed to The Star that the roads were public and it should be allowed to enforce traffic laws there, Lessing said there had been no enforcement and that he had documentation about people still using quadbikes on the estate's roads.

However, it is believed there were several EMPD vehicles on the estate on Monday, the day after the department had commented to The Star.

Serengeti Park board's response The Serengeti Park Owners Association (SPOA) board responds to The Star on instruction from Van Rensburg, Schoon & Cronjé attorneys: "Each and every resident, when he buys his property, gets the whole packet of all the rules, and they sign and they actually contractually agree that they will comply with all of those."

The majority of the R832 000 fine was as a result of owner Tom Lessing living in the house without being issued an occupation certificate by the association, owing to building infringements, which it said had not been disputed.

The board said this fine was R2 000 a day but could not confirm the period over which this amount had accumulated without Lessing's consent. "They (Lessing and his legal representatives) have been aware of the fines all along. They've perhaps chosen to ignore it, but, if you do so again, it's at your own peril," the board said.

It said the use of quadbikes on the main roads was restricted to 50m and the roads were used only to get to the areas where they patrolled, including the perimeter fences and the golf course.

The board also did not confirm whether metro police Chief Superintendent Leon Saaiman had forwarded Lessing's complaint to them, but said that was "probably" the case. "As (SPOA) understands it in general... if you have a complaint about a third party to a government institution, it's never private," it said.

"The SPOA does not have any personal problems or difficulties with any persons inside the estate," the board concluded.