2 days ago
Randburg woman wins court battle to keep her home exercise studio
A court battle against the Joburg municipality came to a head when the city was interdicted from disconnecting basic services at a home-based exercise studio after the court found that exorbitant levies charged were unlawful.
Image: AI / RON
A Randburg woman can legally keep running a home exercise studio despite the City of Johannesburg issuing non-compliance fines and penalties, which were enforced and included the disconnection of electricity and water supply at her property.
This week, Sylvia Lampe's court battle against the municipality came to a head, where the city was interdicted from cutting the basic services at her home. The court found that levying property rates against her property based on the tariff applicable to properties put to an illegal use is unlawful.
Since 1992, Lampe has been granted an indefinite operating licence by the Randburg Town Council, which eliminated the need for an annual licence fee that Lampe had diligently paid.
In 2017, the city, which had assumed the rights and obligations of the Randburg Town Council rights and obligations, determined that Lampe did not have its consent to operate her business from the property.
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On December 13, 2017, the city issued a notice headed 'Unauthorised use of property'. The city informed Lampe that the property was being used 'in a manner which contravenes the Randburg Town Planning 1976 (sic)'. The contravention alleged was that she was 'conducting a gymnasium (callanetics studio) without the approval of the council'.
Lampe then wrote letters to the city council informing them that her business was being operated in accordance with the licence she obtained from the Randburg Town Council in 1984. She had requested that the notice be withdrawn, but the letters were ignored by the city council.
Since July 2019, Lampe's municipal accounts skyrocketed when the city increased the property rates levied against the property, which included an additional R9,400 per month in rates and taxes.
The judgment read: 'Lampe could not afford these charges, and did not pay them. She did, though, lodge a new application with the city for consent to run her business from the property. Nevertheless, the city continued to levy additional rates and taxes on the basis that the property had been used illegally without its consent, and Lampe continued to refuse to pay them.'
In response to Lampe's refusal to pay the additional rates, the city terminated her electricity supply and sued for the amounts outstanding.
The electricity disconnection was reversed by a court in 2020. In that matter, the judge ordered the parties to 'hold a debatement regarding the penalties charged' to Lampe within 30 days of his order. That debatement never took place, since the city took the view that it would simply proceed with its action to collect the rates it said were due.
In a judgment at the Gauteng High Court, Judge Stuart Wilson said that throughout the litigation of the matter, the city conducted itself in an unresponsive and high-handed manner.
'It failed seriously to oppose the bulk of Lampe's claim. In the end, it pursued a far-fetched justification of one portion of the penalties it has imposed. Had the city engaged reasonably and sensibly with Ms Lampe from the outset, this application would never have been necessary,' said Judge Wilson.
