According to the Sectional Titles Act, 95 of 1986 (as amended) that governs multi-owned properties in South Africa, the management, control and administration of the residential sectional title properties will first rest with the developer who should pass it on to the body corporate as soon as the body corporate comes into existence in that particular scheme. The body corporate is in turn empowered by the Act to outsource some or all of its management responsibilities to its executive management, commonly known as the board of trustees. This paper therefore explores the daily management of these residential sectional titles schemes through a case study. The empirical study into day-to-day management of the schemes in question reveals that the trustees, once in power, do not only deny owners, collectively known as the body corporate, the right to participate in the management, control and administration of their scheme, but they also abuse the resources of the body corporate particularly its funds. In this regard co-management remains an academic exercise. Further, trustees failure and/or refusal to adhere to the restrictions or directions imposed on them by their body corporate often leads to the financial difficulties for the body corporate.

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