High court battle over tenancy

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Published Aug 3, 2015

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Durban - A frustrated oThongathi (Tongaat) tenant is embroiled in a legal battle with her new landlord to have her electricity and water reconnected, arguing she had a valid long lease with the previous owner.

In papers before the Durban High Court, Chene Vermaak said the new owner’s wife had called her, threatening to ruin her career if she did not vacate the property.

She said her electricity and water were disconnected soon after, and so she resorted to legal action.

On Friday the matter was in court again, this time calling for her new landlord to be held in contempt and jailed for ignoring a court order for re-connection.

Avishkar Gounden, the new owner, argued he was not “a wealthy landowner acting high handedly taking advantage of a poor person” by disconnecting the electricity and water.

He said he had done his best to have it reconnected, but claimed Vermaak refused to allow his contractor onto the property to do so.

He further alleged that Vermaak “had illegally reconnected” the electricity and water.

Judge Rashid Vahed on Friday granted a final order for Gounden to reconnect these services on the Westbrook property, and adjourned the contempt of court matter indefinitely.

According to Vermaak’s affidavit, she had lived peacefully on the property since March 2011, and in March 2013 her lease was extended for five years.

The previous owner informed her that Gounden had bought the property in May at a sale in execution, as he could not afford to make the bond repayments.

She argued that the electricity and water connections were still in the old owner’s name, and that her rental included these utilities.

In June she said her electricity supply was disconnected.

She found that the main electricity switch had been switched off, so she merely flicked it on again.

A few days later, she said the new owner’s wife called her several times at work and ”verbally abused me for not moving out”.

Vermaak claimed the woman threatened to ruin her career if she did not move out.

“I saved her number and on June 22 she called again and pretended to be an eThekwini representative and informed me it was illegal to reconnect electricity,” her affidavit read.

Soon after, Vermaak said the electricity was disconnected again.

A few days later, she said municipal officials removed her water meter and a water pipe.

Her lawyer sent a letter to Gounden threatening legal action if he did not reconnect the lights and water.

In response, Gounden said he did not oppose Vermaak’s initial application, saying he was unaware, until her application, that he could not disconnect the supply.

He argued that he was trying to prevent illegal occupants from running up a bill on his account.

He said he immediately arranged for the reconnection, but Vermaak had thwarted the attempts of his contractor. He also claimed she illegally re-connected her supply.

“I have a family to support, including my parents. This year I had to sell my property and that of my parents because I couldn’t afford the bond repayments. I bought this property to make some money. My intention was to buy, repair and re-sell,” his affidavit read.

He claimed Vermaak was living illegally on the property as he had bought the property on the basis that it was free of any leases.

He argued that Vermaak, in reverting to legal action, was trying to attack him and deflect his attention from evicting her.

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