SD GENERATIONS BEHIND IN TERMS OF SECTIONAL TITLE

MBABANE-The Chief Executive of the Swaziland National Housing Board, Mduduzi Dlamini believes that Swaziland is generations behind the rest of the world in terms of sectional title.

Dlamini was commenting following concerns by Matsapha based property developer Desmond Oswin that the lack of a sectional title law in Swaziland is impeding the growth of the economy and has cost him up to E32 million due to a stalled cluster house development.

Dlamini contends that, “sectional title has so many advantages as it allows for a more efficient use of land because it can allow a number of people to own a small piece of land. In theory a three bedroom apartment in a block of flats for instance should also be cheaper than a three bedroom stand alone house so more people get the opportunity to own property. It also stimulates property activity because there is a lot more buying, selling and leasing that tends to stimulate economic development.”

Act

“Swaziland does have a Sectional Title Act in place which was approved by Parliament in 2006/2007. However, there were certain elements of that Act that made reference to another piece of legislation that was related to the Ministry of Public Works. The legislation had to do with the definition of professionals such as engineers and so on and because the Act cross referenced that other Act needed to be updated. It was felt that what needed to be done was to amend the Sectional Title Act so that it could operate independently of the other legislation. The second thing is that there needs to be a set of regulations enabling the operations of the sectional title legislation. Hence the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development set up a Sectional Titles Committee that worked on the amendments to the legislation. These amendments were then passed through the Attorney General’s Office to Cabinet and were passed by the House of Assembly in their last term and are now waiting review and approval by Senate. The expectations are that next year when His Majesty officially opens Parliament, the Sectional Title Amendment Bill will be one of the first pieces of legislation to be looked at.”

Dlamini believes once this happens then a very positive sentiment will be created in the property market in Swaziland. “That is very important because sentiment is what drives the economy, people will hire, take loans etc, based on prevailing business sentiment. However, this does not mean there will be an immediate increase in terms of sectional title sales or developments as such because entities such as the National Housing Board, M Prop and the National Provident Fund then need to consider whether it makes business sense to dispose what they have by sectional title. Not every block of flats will be subject to disposal by sectional title because the buildings have to be designed in such a way that allows for sectional title i.e. the division by party walls, common areas, the establishment of body corporates and people need to understand what sectional title means because it is a different culture and a different way of life that comes with different responsibilities both for tenants and the people who are selling because the Act has stipulations as to how you can sell and who you can sell to and so forth. 

Need

There is going to be a need of teaching Swazis about sectional title, letting them know what their options are and it is not every owner of blocks of flats or a portfolio of properties that’s going to avail themselves to sectional title immediately. So I anticipate that there will be a gradual increase in sectional title activity in the medium to long term rather than seeing a flurry of activity as soon as the Act is passed.

It will enable the existing holders of sectional title real estate to embark on the valuation exercise so that they will be able to go into the market and create an exciting property playing field than currently exists at the moment.

In conclusion Dlamini emphasises  that the key is not just about the legislation, the entire culture will have to change because  people will have to understand what their rights and responsibilities are and that as part of a body corporate what they can and cannot do and so forth. That is something that needs a whole lot of work-shopping and teaching and regulation so that people get the right sense about sectional title.

“We as the National Housing Board and as government agents, part of our mandate will be to spearhead government’s requirement to educate the nation on what this is about and why it is good for the country.”

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