Frequently Asked Questions

If you want to know more about the Estate, here is frequently asked questions:

Are the stands on Waterberry Estate Full Title or Sectional Title?

The stands on Waterberry Estate are all full title stands. This means that an owner has full ownership rights to the stand. It also means that an owner is responsible for everything on the stand. The owner has to pay water to the municipality and electricity to the company appointed by the HOA. The owner is also responsible for the upkeep of the garden and the residential property itself.

What is the Home Owners Association(HOA)?

The Home Owners Association, better known as the HOA, is the legal body which the individual properties are exclusively owned, while the communal infrastructure and facilities are owned by the association. This communal property includes the boundary walls, security entrance, parks, and the roads. Each owner must be a member of the HOA so that they are bound by the governance documentation to ensure that they are legally liable to make contributions towards the HOA communal costs and abide by the other rules applicable to the estate. Each owner pays a levy to the HOA, that is spent on projects and monthly expenses approved on the Annual General Meeting every year.

Why does Waterberry Estate have a third party electricity provider?

Due to municipal by-laws in Potchefstroom, Waterberry Estate is only provided a bulk electricity connection from city council. A third party company, Voltano, has been appointed by the HOA, who is responsible for the electricity. Voltano's responsibilities include maintenance of all kiosks and mini-substations on the estate, reading of meter usage and billing of residents, and servicing residents on the estate. Voltano installed smart metering on the estate, which enables residents to track their usage on an app from their phones. Voltano is regulated by NERSA, therefore residents pay per unit according to NERSA regulations. Voltano provides residents with the service of prepaid and post paid electricity.

Why is there a managing agent on Waterberry Estate and who appointed them?

The managing agent is appointed by the members of the HOA at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). They are appointed to collect the levies and execute the projects approved on the AGM. They assist with the administration of the access control according to the rules of the estate and service residents as needs arises.

How can I be fined if I did not know about the rules?

According to the Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) of Waterberry Estate, all owners become a member of the HOA the day a title deed, on Waterberry Estate, is registered to their name. According to the MOI 2.7.1:

The Members shall at all times be required to –

• a) adhere to the terms of this MOI;

• b) observe and comply with the Estate Rules (in the case of Owners) and Committee Rules (in case of all Members);

• c) pay the annual levies, special levies, Committee Fund levies, and any fines on due date/s (as applicable);

and the Board shall be entitled to take such action as may be reasonably necessary to remedy a breach of such requirements against a defaulting Member.

When an owner purchase a house or a stand the MOI and Rules are made available to the owner. All the Rules of Waterberry Estate can also be downloaded from the website.

How does the access control of Waterberry Estate work?

All residents' and owners' finger prints are registered at the office of the managing agent. The boom-gate access control for vehicles and turn-style gate for pedestrians makes use of a bio-metric finger print scanners. Residents and owners have easy access to the estate making use of this technology. All visitors, including contractors, agents and any other person must identify themselves at the Visitors entrance. They must identify themselves with a drivers license or ID document. The vehicles' license disc will be scanned and the vehicle will be searched. The resident must register the visitor on the My Estate Life App so that the security guards can grant access to the visitor.