A university professor's last-ditch effort to save his R8-million seaside mansion from being demolished has failed.
The appeal of Rhodes University's Matthew Lester, a tax professor, to the Ndlambe municipality to consider a partial demolition of his home in the Eastern Cape town of Kenton-on-Sea was rejected this week.
He lost a 10-year battle in and out of court to save the mansion after the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a high court decision instructing him to tear it down. In desperation, he turned to the municipality to ask that it consider his application for a partial demolition.
But on Friday Lester was told by the municipality's legal team that his proposal had been rejected and that the process had to be wrapped up by May 5, in keeping with the court order.
Lester lost his legal battle after the High Court in Grahams-town ordered two years ago that his house be demolished.
He had bought the 1496m² site for R200000 in 1997 and built on it. The municipality and neighbour James Haslam accused Lester of flouting building regulations, obstructing views and affecting privacy.
Lester proposed the house be altered in accordance with submitted plans. He appealed the ruling in the appeal court in August, but it upheld the high court's decision and gave him until May 5 to demolish the four-bedroom, triple-storey house.
But when Lester started complying about a month ago, the municipality accused him of acting illegally. It said he would ruin the sand dune on which the house is perched. He was instructed to stop the demolition until engineers were consulted.
This gave him hope the municipality would consider a partial demolition so that he could build a one-storey house on the base of the demolished one.
After a month of deliberation, the municipality said in its "demolition implementation plan" that the "demolition of this structure is to proceed in compliance with the court order".
"It is important to note that the natural dune slopes on either side of the property are highly sensitive to collapse and must not be altered or interfered with during demolitions."
Lester said he would seek further legal advice.
"I vacated my home at the beginning of February. I consulted with an engineer and the local architect as to how we could safely cut the old house apart."
It had caused emotional upheaval, he added.
"The case has left a sad, bitter experience in my family's life. Both my parents have died confused by the whole fiasco. Try failed personal relationships, a fractured family, attacks on my career, diabetes, high blood pressure. My daily medication looks like a pile of Smarties."
He said it would cost him R8-million to demolish and rebuild - money he did not have.
- Lester is a columnist for Business Times
