The owner of the collapsed Ormonde building was once ordered by a court to demolish part of her building that had encroached onto a neighbour’s property.
Tesmin Ghood, 71, the woman whose company New Order Investment 90 (Pty) Ltd is at the center of Ormonde building disaster, was in 2014 found to have illegally extended her property in Crown Mines without City of Johannesburg’s approval .
According to a 2014 high court judgment Boss Foods CC, the applicant, which bought a R5.5m property in Crown Mines took one of Ghood’s companies Ingo Rehders Properties to court over encroaching on its land and won. Ghood’s New Order Investment 90 (Pty) Ltd, was responsible for the Ormonde building in the south of Johannesburg that collapsed on Monday last week, killing nine workers .
Boss Foods, which bought a R5.5m property in Crown Mines in 2012, was situated next to three plots owned by Ingo Rehders Properties, where an industrial warehouse development had already been built.
According to the judgment, Ingo Rehders Properties began proposing an extension of its development in 2012, claiming it wanted to close the two-metre gap separating the two properties and prevent people from using the space as a thoroughfare.
An employee at Boss Foods told a representative of Ingo Rehders that he would ask his employer for permission but that “it wouldn’t be a problem”.
However, Judge Namhla Siwendu heard that the employee was not authorised to grant such permission and that the owner of Boss Foods had never consented to the encroachment.
“In my view, this is consistent with the applicant’s contention that it did not grant consent. The exact extent of the encroachment, and the terms thereof, would have been a material issue to be agreed by the applicant and the first respondent.
“Such consent would have been properly granted by the sole member of the close corporation. The refusal by the applicant to sign the documents presented by Abba is to me a clear indication of the lack of consent,” said Siwendu.
Ghood’s company even offered to compensate their neighbour R1,000 per square metre they took, but the offer was declined.
Despite this, the respondent proceeded with construction and began laying foundations around late 2012 and early 2013. Walls were erected in January 2013 before the required building plans had been approved by the municipality.
Siwendu noted that the City of Johannesburg had issued a cessation notice in January 2013 after discovering that construction was taking place without approved plans.
“The applicant’s founding affidavit clearly states that the buildings were erected without any approved building plans. In its response, the first respondent simply denies and/or challenges the correctness of the basis of the application, but not the allegations of fact against it,” she said.
Approval for the plans was only granted several months later, in June 2013.
Siwendu found that the developer had prior knowledge of the boundary between the two properties and had proceeded with construction despite this.
“The encroachment is not only unlawful, but the surrounding circumstances leading to the dispute, together with the conduct of the first respondent, borders on annexation of the applicant’s land. Consequently, at common law, a demolition order would have been, and is, appropriate,” she said.
Siwendu ruled in favour of Boss Foods, ordering the developer to demolish and remove all structures that had been unlawfully built on the neighbouring property within 30 days.
“In the event that the first respondent fails to execute the orders, the Sheriff is to be authorised to procure the demolition and removal.
“The first respondent is interdicted from continuing with any further unlawful construction that encroaches on the applicant’s property, and that is not in accordance with the town planning requirements,” the judge said.
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