The Trustee Who Should Have Stepped Aside: A Durban Case on Conflicts of Interest
A conflicted trustee stayed in the room for a decision he should have stepped back from — and that’s not even why the case was lost.
A Durban owner had a sliding gate application refused by trustees, one of whom was, at the time, under an interim protection order linked to alleged trespassing in her own garden. CSOS didn’t need to rule on that conflict to strike the decision down: the board simply couldn’t show a proper general meeting had ever been convened.
Two separate governance failures. Either one was enough to void the outcome.
Jannie Smit breaks down what Prescribed Management Rules 6(3), 14(3) and 30 require of trustees facing a personal conflict — and what “properly convened” actually means in practice.