Neighbours: just like your family, you cannot choose them.
And sometimes they are even worse than that annoying relative you have to see once or twice a year because you live right next to them, or above or below them.
Even if you never see your neighbours, you may still have to endure listening to them, and whatever noises emanate from their property.
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Kendra* and her family recently moved into the top maisonette of a shared property in Durban, and while they love their new home, their downstairs neighbours are a lot to take in. Or rather, their conversation is.
“I am not exaggerating when I say the F-word is part of their everyday conversation. Sometimes it is yelled in anger – along with a multitude of other vulgar words, and other times it is just casual talk between each other. But we hear it all.
“We heard all about the devil eggs they were making for a party last weekend, and how some of them dropped on the floor. Apparently ‘floor spice’ makes them tastier. We know about a rumour that someone in Bloemfontein is spreading about one of the women, and we know which family member was on the toilet while being yelled at by another to go eat dinner.”
Kendra, however, does concede that her young children are sometimes noisy too, but her main issue is with the constant vulgar language.
“And we would never approach them about it because that would probably just cause tension.”
And then there is Melany* who endured noisy and rude neighbours on more than one occasion, but she was not afraid to confront them.
“One of my neighbours had this parrot that they would put on the balcony right outside my bedroom window. And as soon as the sun rose, the parrot – named Jack, did too.
“I had asked them on a few occasions if they could move the parrot to their side of the balcony but they just refused. So now I am an early riser.”
The Capetonian also had young neighbours who loved to drink, take drugs, and play loud music.
“And it was this ‘doof, doof, doof’ music. No matter how much I asked or begged them to keep the noise down, they refused to listen.”
The block of flats was owned by one person and had one caretaker who Melany says “was quite the alcoholic”. It was a “nightmare”.
“Management of the block was eventually taken over by a rental company and I complained to them. But the situation just became awful because it is very difficult when you live so close to neighbours. You don’t really want to cause animosity.
“The guys upstairs were also quite hectic but they were also helpful. They were kind and since I complained to them about their noise a number of times they actually just stopped. But I had to go up there in my pyjamas at 3am and knock on their door to ask them to.”
This, she says, is one of the problems with sharing sectional title properties with people from different generations.
But the noise issue is not just limited to shared buildings or complexes. Even in free-standing homes people have to deal with loud neighbours. Shaun* and his wife know that well enough.
“Our neighbours had built high walls around their property and had a huge steel fence as a gate. We never saw them, but we heard them, all the time. They would drink a lot and then get into huge fights.
“We would hear doors slamming and glass smashing, and two people swearing at each other with pure hate in their voices. The worst occasion was when the husband’s brother did something really bad – we could not understand what, on the wife’s birthday.”
The couple never reported it as it was literally almost a daily occurrence and they did not want to have beef with their neighbours, especially knowing how aggressive they could get.
From a legal standpoint though, what is permissible when dealing with noisy neighbours?
Simon Dippenaar, founder and managing partner of Simon Dippenaar & Associates, says ‘noise pollution’ can be described as unwanted or offensive noises that unreasonably interfere with people’s daily lives and/or activities.
A recent High Court case identified two types of noise – ‘disturbing noise’ and ‘noise nuisance’.
“‘Disturbing noise’ is objective and defined as a scientifically measurable noise level generally compared to the existing ambient noise level. An example would be building, construction, and demolition noise. There are restrictions on the hours during which construction activities can be carried out, and specified times when their excessive noise may not ‘unreasonably disturb or interfere with the amenity of the neighbourhood’.
“‘Noise nuisance’ is a subjective measure and is defined as any noise that disturbs or impairs, or may disturb or impair the convenience or peace of any person. Our municipal by-laws govern disturbing noise.”
Noise nuisance, he says, can be reported to the police and even go to court as it is regulated by both the Environment Conservation Act, Act 23 of 1989 and the National Noise Control Regulations.
Dippenaar recently handled a complaint by a property owner against a well-known drinking establishment in Noordhoek.
“The complaint centred around loud revellers after 11 every evening, and was settled when the pub owners enclosed the upstairs balcony with noise-proof glass.”
If your neighbours don’t listen to your reasonable requests to stop the noise disturbance, Dippenaar advises that you call the local police to investigate in terms of the above-mentioned by-laws. Many municipalities publish a specific number for reporting noise complaints.
In the City of Joburg, any unbearable noise should be reported to CoJ Environmental Health Department, not the JMPD. With regard to noisy establishments, such as bars and clubs, JMPD says that it does not have noise-level measuring machines but Environmental Health does.
“The legal process is to report the incident of noise to Environmental Health, who will then come out and measure it. If it exceeds the prescribed level, they will approach the court and get an interdict for JMPD to come out and shut down the premises.”
The City of Cape Town, he says, has several contact numbers for noise complaints, depending on the nature of the noise.
“Noise nuisance, as described above, should be reported to the City Health Department, Environmental Sub District, during office hours. Outside of office hours, complaints should be directed to the local SAPS.”
In Durban, you should contact the municipality to report ongoing noise disturbance and Metro Police for once-off incidents.
To clarify, he explains that noise nuisances would constitute loud music from neighbours, or loud fighting and swearing.
If you live in a sectional title block, you must first complain to the trustees.
“Provided the trustees are empowered by the Management and Conduct Rules, they can investigate the complaint, and once they have heard the complainant’s version, they may levy a fine, if appropriate,” Dippenaar says.
* Names changed
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