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REFERRAL TO ADJUDICATOR

Should conciliation fail, the Ombud must refer the application, together with any
submissions and responses thereto, to an adjudicator.

The applicant and any other relevant person are not entitled to legal representation during
the adjudication process, unless the adjudicator and all other parties consent, or the
adjudicator concludes that it would be unreasonable to expect the party to deal with the
adjudication without legal representation, given the complexity of the matter and/or the
nature of the questions of law raised by the dispute.

The adjudicator may make an order to dismiss the application, or grant or refuse each part
of the relief sought by the applicant, or an order requiring a person to act, or to refrain from
acting in a specified way.

The adjudicator’s order may be enforced by a Magistrate’s Court, if the order is for the
payment of an amount of money or any other relief that is within the jurisdiction of the
Magistrate’s Court. Should the order be beyond the Magistrate’s Court’s jurisdiction, the
order may be enforced as if it was a judgement of the High Court.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Section 57 provides that an applicant, the association or any affected person who is
dissatisfied by an adjudicator’s order, may appeal to the High Court, but only on a question
of law.

OMBUD SERVICE FEES

The fee for applying to the Ombud to resolve a dispute is just R50, and once it reaches
adjudication, R100 is payable.

If the adjudication is outsourced by CSOS, the private adjudicator will be bound by a daily
fee prescribed by CSOS. Section 53(3) of the CSOS Act sets out the maximum amount of
costs an adjudicator may order.

The Regulations state that where a person’s monthly net household (gross income
less PAYE) income is below R5 500 are entitled to a 100% waiver of application and
adjudication fees.

SCHEME LEVIES

The CSOS is also funded by a small levy attached to every community scheme’s levy
payment, payable on a quarterly basis, commencing January 2017.

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