You’ll take on responsibilities and make decisions that will not just affect you, but all the owners and tenants in the building. This (evolving) document aims to guide you with the processes involved.

Every owner in the building automatically becomes a member of the body corporate after transfer of their property. Each owner (read: unit) gets to vote and elect the trustees.

Who should be a trustee?

The amount of trustees serving is decided during a general meeting, but there has to be at least two trustees. We encourage those with the time (as it takes up quite a bit of your own time) and a wide variety of skills to stand for election (any owner can nominate a trustee; you can also nominate yourself).

Economic benefit & remuneration

The Sectional Titles Act states that “… a trustee shall avoid any material conflict between his own interests and those of the body corporate”, and in particular: “shall not derive any personal economic benefit to which he is not entitled by reason of his office as trustee of the body corporate.”

Ad-hoc expenses incurred (say, cleaning products purchased by the trustee), will obviously be reimbursed.

Duties

Fiduciary role. Trustees must consistently act with integrity and prioritise the best interests of the body corporate, ensuring that their actions do not serve personal gain.

Financial management. Managing the scheme’s finances including preparing/reviewing the budget, ensuring the levies are calculated and billed correctly to all owners, following up on levies in arrears, paying vendors, ensuring the scheme is insured sufficiently, preparing the annual financial statements, preparing the annual administrative budget, putting together a 10-year maintenance plan. These budgets will determine the monthly levies.

Maintenance. Maintenance and management of the common property and exclusive use areas. The trustees are responsible for allocating sufficient financial resources for such maintenance, both short and long term.

Bagamoya rules. The rules of the building must be reviewed continuously, allowing for any necessary changes or amendments. This will keep the rules dynamic and relevant, reflecting both legislative changes and the unique needs of the scheme’s residents. Trustees must also ensure that the residents adhere to the rules and when in breach, that the issue is addressed with the relevant party.

Record keeping. Responsible for the safekeeping of all the body corporate records and must ensure that it is regularly updated with any changes.

The trustees may not necessarily attend to all the above duties themselves but our managing agent who can assist with some of these functions.

What is not a trustee’s job?

Trustees don’t have the right to act in their personal interest, without considering the best interest of all owners. Trustees can’t take unilateral action, or arbitrarily implement rules that aren’t in the rules of conduct, nor make changes to the rules without a majority vote.

Trustees should take care not to place themselves in a position where they are acting as (or asked to act as) judge-and-jury between neighbours and matters that fall outside the scope of the rules of conduct.

E.g. If an owner complains to a trustee about a neighbour’s car’s exhaust fumes or their all-day phone calls on their balcony or their ugly curtains, the trustee should have the neighbours solve the matter between themselves, as there isn’t a rule being broken and legally the trustee can’t make a decision. If the neighbours can’t resolve it between themselves, they can refer it to the Managing Agents and cc the Trustees, who can deliberate the matter, refer it to the AGM (to create or change a rule) or for mediation with the CSOS or other bodies.

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