Book Review: Basic sectional title, book 1 and book 2

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Author: Tertius Maree
• Citation: (2000) 11 Stell LR 306
• Pages: 306-310
• Date: 30 May 2019
• Published date: 30 May 2019

Basic sectional title, book 1 and book 2

2000 Stell LR 306

Tertius Maree

Attorney, Tertius Maree & Lourens

BASIC SECTIONAL TITLE, BOOK 1 and BOOK 2 — by TED WOUDBERG. Second

edition. Butterworths Durban 1999 Book 1 117 p. Price R106,02. Book 2 148

p. Price R106,02.

The appearance of any new work on sectional titles is to be welcomed in view of the

dearth of authority on a subject where stakeholders long for guidance. For this

reason it is doubly disappointing to find the second edition of this publication fairly

bristling with misinformation.

Generally speaking, it is clear that the author is aware of the diversity of

problems encountered by owners and trustees in the sphere of sectional title

management. The matters dealt with mostly represent very real problems

encountered in practice; often his advice is useful for the inexperienced reader; but

just as often the loose terminology employed throughout the work could lead the

uninformed reader astray. Furthermore, in many instances the author’s

interpretations of the law are simply wrong.

A typical example of the author’s casual approach to terminology is the following

statement on page 17 of Book 2:

“It is a fundamental law of property that all outstanding rates applicable to a

subdivision (developed or not) be paid up to date of transfer before such transfer is

allowed to proceed in the local Deeds Registry.”

The linguistic liberty displayed by the author in this example is harmless, and,

granted, the work is not intended to benefit legal scholars or even legal

practitioners. But this relaxed attitude towards linguistic precision is extended to

aspects where lack of accuracy could have seriously misleading results. In other

instances, ascribing the rather confused exposition to the author’s relaxed style

might be giving him too much credit.

The following examples illustrate the extent to which inaccurate language and

erroneous interpretations of the statutory text serve to mislead the uninformed

reader:

On page 5 (Book 1) it is stated that each owner is [j]ointly and severally liable for

the debts of the body corporate, should the levy fund be unable to satisfy the claims

of creditors. Section 47(1) of the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 (hereafter “the

Act”) makes no mention of joint and several liability and in fact states that under

the particular circumstances, owners may only be held liable on apro rata basis,

based on their participation quotas.

On page 12 (Book 1)it is stated twice that the method of allocating levies can

only be changed by the owners by unanimous resolution, whereas section 32(4) of

the Act requires a special resolution in conjunction with the written consent of an

owner who is affected adversely. The error is not an innocent one; it is quite

conceivable that a unanimous resolution could be obtained without the participation

of an

2000 Stell LR 307

affected owner, as only 80% of members form a quorum for such a resolution,

whereas the statutory requirement ensures that the participation of affected owners

must always be obtained.

On page 21(Book 1)it is alleged that a resolution to raise a special levy is

binding on all existing and/or new owners. This view cannot be supported in view of

the fact that section 37(2) stipulates that levies may be recovered from persons

who are registered owners at the time of passing the relevant resolution.

(2000) 11 Stell LR 306

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