SCA overturns order directing City of Tshwane to restore power to shopping centre owing millions in unpaid bills
The case was brought by a company called Vresthena, which owns multiple units in the centre that had its power cut off by the metro over millions of rands worth of unpaid municipal bills.
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JOHANNESBURG - The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) overturned an order handed down by the High Court in Pretoria that directed the City of Tshwane to restore electricity to a local shopping centre that was cut off over millions of rands worth of unpaid municipal bills.
The case was brought by a company called Vresthena, which owns multiple units in the centre.
In court, Vresthena argued that the centre’s body corporate, which is responsible for the municipal bills, was dysfunctional.
The High Court ruled in the company’s favour in 2022 but the city then turned to the SCA.
In its ruling, which was handed down last week, the SCA said while municipalities were “constitutionally and statutorily obliged to provide their residents with electricity,” citizens had to pay and that “as a form of credit control, any municipality has a statutory right to terminate such services on notice”.
The court also found Vresthena hadn’t provided reasons for the body corporate’s failure to pay, nor had the company argued that it had even made payments to the body corporate or done anything to compel it to perform its mandate.
It said the latter was “disturbing,” stressing that Vresthena and the other unit owners were entitled to appoint “new and effective trustees” under the Sectional Titles Act.
The court found that the right to electricity was “not absolute,” and that Vresthena and the other owners had no right to continue to receive same without payment.