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A former chairperson of the Welkom Retirement Village board must vacate her home at this resort in the Goldfields by Friday.
This comes after her application for leave to appeal against an eviction order failed.
The acting judge, André Berry, ruled in the Bloemfontein High Court that there are no reasonable prospects that Beverley-Ann Shahia’s intended appeal against his earlier order – in which he also declared her an illegal resident of the resort – will succeed.
She must also pay the legal costs for her failed application.
The eviction order that was granted against this 72-year-old widow in early February follows years of discord between her and the resort’s council, in which accusations of nepotism, and even theft and fraud, were made.
The council accused her in court documents of causing discord, disruption and being a troublemaker.
By the end of July last year, she was more than R58 000 in arrears with the monthly charges she has to pay for her retirement home.
Shahia, who has lived in the resort since 2010, refused to pay the levy and only paid what she thought was right. She was chairperson of the resort’s board for about five years until 2015.
Furthermore, there was a dispute about the amount she had to pay.
According to the agreement for lifetime residence, the council has the right to suspend residents’ residence if they do not comply with the terms of the agreement.
Berry said the prolonged feud between the parties had become unbearable and had a direct impact on the council’s ability to manage the resort for the benefit of all the residents. – Mike van Rooyen
