Property Practitioners Act, 2019 (Act No. 22 of 2019)Chapter 5 : Compliance and Enforcement30. Adjudication |
| (1) | If— |
| (a) | a person on whom a compliance notice has been served in accordance with section 26— |
| (i) | fails to comply with this Act as demanded in the compliance notice; |
| (ii) | fails to timeously comply with the compliance notice; or |
| (iii) | fails to timeously pay the fine determined by the Authority; or |
| (b) | mediation has been attempted in accordance with section 29 but has failed; |
| (c) | the serious nature of the complaint and the contravention in question warrants, the Authority must cause a notice of adjudication to be served on the person concerned as prescribed. |
| (2) | The Authority must appoint an independent legally qualified person as an adjudicator to conduct an adjudication of a complaint in terms of this section, who for purposes of this section is referred to as the ‘‘adjudicator’’. |
| (3) | The Authority may upon application from the adjudicator on good grounds appoint independent assessors to assist him or her. |
| (4) | Within 14 days of the appointment of the adjudicator, the adjudicator must— |
| (a) | give notice of the adjudication as prescribed to all parties concerned; and |
| (b) | set the matter down for hearing within 60 days. |
| (5) | The adjudication must be held expeditiously, subject to upholding the rules of natural justice and in accordance with prescribed procedure. |
(6)
| (a) | The adjudicator must upon conclusion of the adjudication make a determination as to whether the complaint is upheld or not. |
| (b) | If the complaint is upheld, the adjudicator must make an order which in the circumstances is appropriate, and such an order has the status of an order of a magistrate’s court and must be executed accordingly. |
| (7) | The order contemplated in subsection (6) may include— |
| (a) | a fine which may not exceed the amount determined by the Minister of Justice for the purposes of section 29(1)(a) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944); |
| (b) | if appropriate in the circumstances, an order that the Authority pays not more than 80 percent of the fine as a compensation award to the complainant; and |
| (c) | any other appropriate order under the circumstances. |
| (8) | The adjudicator must upon finalisation of the adjudication process provide written reasons for any of his or her determinations or orders. |
| (9) | The Authority must keep the records of all hearings, including the order made and written reasons provided by the adjudicator, as prescribed. |
| (10) | Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2), property practitioners may consent to refer an inter-property practitioners’ dispute for adjudication by the Authority, and the Authority may provide such service on a cost recovery basis. |
| (11) | Subject to the provisions of subsection (7)(b), any fine paid pursuant to an order made by the adjudicator accrues to the Fund. |