Welcome to the house of shadows.
That's the doormat Bhugwan Singh says he should put out in front of his Reservoir Hills home, which is dwarfed by a neighbour's house.
Singh, known as Bugsy, lives with his wife in a one-storey house and claims that his neighbour's three-storey home is "monstrous".
He has gone to court over the house of his immediate neighbour, Mohammed Araff Ismail. Ismail's house is not yet complete, but towers over Singh's home.
Singh is the chief specialist in the University of KwaZulu-Natal's department of general surgery. Ismail runs the Longbury Meat Market in Phoenix that sells meat and other products to major supermarket retailers.
In papers lodged with the High Court in Durban, the professor laid the blame for the dispute on the municipality.
He said Ismail had built a three-storey house instead of a two-storey one, to which he and his wife, Ameeta, had consented.
He blamed the municipality's building inspectors for not enforcing city bylaws. The municipality is also cited as a respondent.Singh said that when Ismail's building plans surfaced in 2009, he and his wife were sent from pillar to post by municipal managers and other officials when they raised objections to the alleged major deviations.
Singh, through his attorney Suren Moodley, claimed Ismail had backtracked on the plans and had not kept the retaining walls to a 2m height. He also said the neighbouring property did not have a basement, as shown on the plans.
"The respondents deviated substantially from the original plans. The monstrous property has encroached on our building lines. The retaining walls are enormous and have exceeded the permissible height of 2m and contravene the provisions of the Westville town-planning scheme," Singh's attorney said.
SWITCH ON THE LIGHTS
"They were fined R1,500 each thrice for building transgressions. In spite of stop-work notices being issued against them, construction continued.
"Strict enforcement of the municipal by-laws has not happened. It seems the Ismails were allowed to manipulate the natural ground level substantially in their plans and on site physically too."
This, Singh said, had "impacted negatively" on their privacy - including their pool, braai area, kitchen and lounge.
Singh said that lights had to be switched on in the lounge for the better part of the day because the neighbour's home had left him and his wife "living in the shadows".
The Singhs are seeking an order for the third storey of Ismail's house to be demolished. They also want the court to set aside the neighbour's building plans and to have these remitted to the municipality for the necessary remedial action.
But Ismail is not budging and is opposing the matter.
In opposing papers he denied that his house transgressed the building bylaws.
"We did not manipulate the ground level, but the applicants did. We submitted plans for the construction of a dwelling on a very steep hill, which overlooks the Singhs' property. It is a substantial building. However, the mis-description as monstrous and encroaching on the building lines is rejected. My wife and I are entitled to continue construction and to complete the building. We do not require the special consent of the applicants to do so."
Ismail, represented by attorney MY Baig, claimed there were substantial disputes of fact regarding the levels and measurements taken by Singh's engineer, Madan Singh.
"More than 50% of my property is underground and accordingly constitutes a basement.
"The building is not a three-storey one but has two storeys and a basement."
He denied that the complex infringed on the Singhs' rights and privacy.
On Monday the municipality filed notice that it would defend the action.
NEIGHBOURLY STRIFE
JACKHAMMERS
• Pietermaritzburg advocates turned to the courts to stop workers next door using these to demolish concrete slabs between 10am and 4pm on weekdays.
SERENGETI RISE
• A high-rise building in Currie Road, Durban, was given the green light by the Constitutional Court in a battle between the developers and neighbours, who claimed it was out of keeping with the area.
BYLAW
• A municipal bylaw stipulates that objections to new buildings by neighbours based on privacy, view or value issues will be considered in terms of what is reasonable within an urban context; such objections are not automatic reasons for refusal of an application...