Trevor Foster hoped for a quiet retirement in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Camps Bay. But this week, the 67-year-old said six years of noise from his neighbour had driven him to the verge of suicide.
Foster, who runs a guesthouse, complained to the Cape Town high court that Clem Kirst - who lives directly opposite - swears loudly at his wife and children, revs motorbikes and whistles to his dogs. At the peak of the barney, the neighbours resorted to recording and filming each other.
Foster, a former chartered accountant, traced the fallout to December 2014 when "I was disturbed by the sound of drums being played very loudly from [Kirst's] property".
In September 2018, he obtained an interim interdict prohibiting Kirst from "causing a noise nuisance and/or disturbance by shouting or raising his voice, including but not limited to uttering any profanity on or near [his property] such that [his] utterances can be heard by [Foster], guests or other occupants [at] Camps Bay Villa [Foster's property]". The court made the interdict final in February last year. By then Foster had begun a contempt of court action against Kirst, who applied to have the order rescinded.
Foster summarised the events leading to the litigation in a 25-page affidavit, in which he said: "At around midnight on 18/19 April 2015, I was woken up by [Kirst] and his wife returning home and later [Kirst] shouting at the top of his voice at his wife. Shortly thereafter, I heard the sound of a vehicle accelerating and speeding away from the Theresa Avenue property. At around 4am, [Kirst] returned and banged loudly on his door and shouted at his wife.
"Further on in 2015, I happened to be outside Camps Bay Villa and heard [Kirst] shout 'you little f***' and witnessed his younger child running around the corner of the property towards the driveway.
"On a later date in 2015, I was outside Camps Bay Villa and heard [Kirst] utter to his wife 'f*** off you c***'. They were both standing in the driveway of the Theresa Avenue property."
Foster said he called the police in November 2015 when he was "subjected to very loud amplified music". His affidavit said: "After the police left, and while my guests were arriving at Camps Bay Villa, [Kirst] uttered various profanities in my direction, made a threat to do me physical harm and slammed the door.
I heard [Kirst] shout 'you little f***' and witnessed his younger child running around the corner of the property towards the driveway
— Trevor Foster
"What ultimately led to this application for the interdict was the incident that occurred in January 2018. [Kirst] was outside the Theresa Avenue property on the driveway and I was outside at Camps Bay Villa. I could hear [Kirst] clearly shouting profanity at his child and berating him.
"On 5 February 2018, I heard [Kirst] shouting very loudly as I was preparing Camps Bay Villa for the arrival of guests. I became exasperated ... and engaged in a verbal exchange with [him].
"On 29 July 2018, I heard [Kirst] shouting loudly and raising his voice on his driveway. The shouting and swearing continued for some time and was directed at various members of his family, accompanied by revving of motorbikes. This culminated in [Kirst] threatening to drown his child in the bath. I found this profoundly shocking."
The number of years Trevor Foster and Clem Kirst have spent feuding
— 6
Foster said Kirst had disregarded the interim interdict. But Kirst described Foster's application as unreasonable. "[Foster] seeks to prevent me from going about the business of ordinary family life at my property," he said in his 58-page affidavit.
"I live with my wife and two boys aged eight years and 11 years. I have a home office and work from home. We have dogs. They sometimes bark. I have cars and motorbikes, which make a noise.
The number of court actions they have brought against each other since 2018
— 4
"We have guests. Sometimes, like any other ordinary person, we greet those guests in the street when they arrive outside our house. Our boys have guests. They also make noise.
"Sometimes the boys are naughty and I shout at them in order to discipline them. Sometimes I shout at the dogs to make them stop barking. We have ordinary lives."
Kirst accepted that it was in Foster's interests that his "well-heeled" guests are not disturbed but he [Foster] had gone too far.
The amount Foster says he has spent on litigation
— R1.4m
"He stands outside his house ... and uses his cellphone or other recording device to record what my kids and me are doing outside. My boys are young and vulnerable and it concerns me to have this man invading our privacy ... I find it creepy."
Judge Hayley Slingers dismissed both applications, and this week Kirst told the Sunday Times he would abide by the court's decision. "The acrimony has been unfortunate but we trust the relationship can be repaired over time," he said.
Foster said the spat almost drove him to suicide. "It has taken away six years of life. These are the closing stages of my life but there has been absolutely no attempt to resolve this nicely," he said.
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