Demolition of Rhodes professor Matthew Lester's beach home started this week, six months after he lost his final court appeal.
Demolition of Rhodes professor Matthew Lester's beach home started this week, six months after he lost his final court appeal.
In August 2013, Judge SA Majiedt in the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed with costs Lester's appeal of a May 2012 judgment deeming his house to be in contravention of Section 21 of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act.
The case had begun 10 years previously. It included seven high court applications and entailed aspects of neighbour, public and administrative law.
Ndlambe Municipality and High Dune House (Pty) Ltd, the owners of a neighbouring property, applied for a demolishing order on Lester’s property on the grounds that it contravened building regulations, obstructed the view and affected privacy.
Lester, a professor of tax law, countered the claim, proposing the house instead be altered in accordance with submitted plans. The case ended in the high court's ordering Lester to demolish his R8m property at his own expense within 180 days.
