New homeowners not responsible for historical municipal debt
New homeowners cannot be held liable for debt accumulated by previous owners.
That's according to a Constitutional Court ruling on Tuesday.
The matter was brought by municipalities, including Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini.
The ConCourt upheld a November 2016 High Court ruling in favour of new property owners.
Property owners had been denied municipal services until the debts had been paid.
This ruling will provide much relief to new homeowners who have been held accountable for municipal debt, dating as far back as 20 years.
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The applicants complained they were left in the dark without electricity as the previous owners failed to pay for their municipal services.
However, the municipalities were adamant the new owners were responsible for the historical municipal debt.
The applicants complained that they faced darkness, having no electricity, and many other inhumane conditions because they bought property whose previous owners failed to meet their obligations to the municipality - and against whom the municipality failed to enforce its rights in fulfilment of its constitutional obligations.
In both the 2016 High Court case as well as this one - the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs presented arguments in support of the municipalities.
The court has now ordered that the municipalities and the minister pay the legal costs of the applications and the two counsel.