We believe that the strength of our legal team is attributable to our enthusiasm for and interest in the law and in the business and interests of our clients. With the best of technological resources available to us, we are ideally positioned to service clients of high profile.

KEY MANAGEMENT

 André Hendrik Swart (BA LLB, Advanced Diploma in Labour Law, LLM Planning- and Environmental Law)

• An admitted attorney, notary and conveyancer.
• Andre has vast experience in Local Government law as well as property-, planning-, administrative-, environmental-, and water law. He is also an experienced conveyancer.
• He specializes in Local Government-, planning-, environmental- and water law and holds a LLM degree form the University of South Africa with planning- and environmental law as major subjects. He has also recently completed a certificate in Local Government Law and Administration through the University of Pretoria.

Chimone Otto (LLB)

• An admitted attorney, conveyancer and notary.
• Chimone specializes in property law and has experience in various litigation and conveyancing matters.

Theresa Campher (B Proc LLB)

• An admitted attorney and conveyancer.
• Theresa specializes in property law and has experience in various litigation and conveyancing matters.

TRADITION

Stadler & Swart Attorneys Incorporated was established in George in 1982. Over the years the firm has maintained a tradition of excellence and has gone from strength to strength by constantly assimilating and developing new skills. Due to its large client base consisting of corporate clients as well as professional individuals involved in one or more of the multi-disciplinary facets of property development, Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc attends to instructions throughout the Western Cape as well as other parts of the country. Consequently, we maintain strong and enduring relationships with many corporate and individual clients and we continue to advance in a very competitive legal and business environment. Our clientele bears witness to this.

CLIENTELE

Some of our high profile clients include:

• Dynarc Capital (Pty) Ltd
• Attfund Limited
• Power Construction (Pty) Ltd
• Atterbury Property Group
• George Municipality
• Eden District Municipality
• Hessequa Municipality
• Knysna Municipality
• ABSA Bank
• Standard Bank
• Nedbank
• Mosselbay Municipality
• Remgro
• Theewaterskloof Municipality

STRENGTHS OF STADLER AND SWART

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc are specialists in the environmental law field and have been practicing as such for the past 24 years. Our Senior Attorney, AH Swart, possesses a Masters Degree in Environmental Law and has over many years acted for local authorities and high profile developers in the Environmental Law field. We have in the past advised the majority of the local authorities in the Southern Cape on strategic environmental issues, including environmental impact assessments within the context of spatial plans such as IDP’s and SDF’s.

We have extensive experience in the review of environmental reports since the advent of the first EIA Regulations during 1997.

We have strong relationships with the officials of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in George as well as in Cape Town and are currently in the process of forging these same bonds with the Department of Water Affairs.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPERTY LAW

The strength and growth of the property law department of Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc is securely based upon their specialist knowledge and experience in the field of local government and property law with specific emphasis on their specialist knowledge and experience of development-, administrative-, planning-, environmental- and local government law.

Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc advises various local authorities on all the aspects of local government, planning- and environmental law, including the George Municipality, Eden District Municipality, Mosselbay Municipality, Oudtshoorn Municipality, Knysna Municipality, Hessequa Municipality and Theewaterskloof Municipality.

As far as developer clients are concerned, Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc gets involved in the property development projects of their clients at a very early stage and assists in and serves as a watch dog to the processing of all incidental development applications in terms of applicable planning- and environmental legislation. Their involvement ensures that development applications are processed in strict compliance with applicable statutory provisions which to a large extent entrenches the application processes of their clients against appeals or review applications that might hold merit and result in delays being experienced in the implementation of their client’s development projects. Various high profile corporate clients as well as local authorities employ the services of Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc on the afore-said basis with the obvious beneficial effect on legal work incidental to property development and the conveyancing of immovable properties.

We serve as specialist advisors to some of the most well know and respected town and regional planning companies as well as environmental consultant involved in property development projects.

COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE LAW

We focus on all aspects of commercial work derived form all sectors of the economy with emphasis on property related commercial work, insolvency law, insurance law and the law of contract.

LITIGATION

Our litigation department exclusively attends to High Court litigation incidental to our property law –and commercial law department with specific emphasis on review applications, interdicts and statutory appeals incidental to property development projects. Stadler & Swart Attorneys has extensive experience in administrative and municipal law litigation.

Notable court cases which we have attended to and which have been reported in the Law Reports include:

• SLC Property Group (Pty) Ltd and Another v Minister of Environmental Affairs and Economic Development (Western Cape) and Another [2008] 1 All SA 627 (C)
• Joint Owner of Remainder ERF 5216 Hartenbos v MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Western Cape Province and Another 2011 (1) SA 128 (WCC).

PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

Some of the high-profile property developments to which our firm serves as legal advisors are listed below. We were instrumental in obtaining the development rights of these developments which are therefore ripe to be implemented.

• Paradise Coast (Mosselbay)

The development will be comprised of approximately 900 units consisting of Single Residential erven, 2 Group Housing erven, 1 Hotel/Village with tourism components and 2 business erven.

• Destiny Africa (George) (Total Project Value : R28 Billion)

This Development almost constitutes a new town (approximate number of units : 7783) and is the largest development approval in the Southern Cape in history, the development period of which is estimated to be between 15 and 25 years. The proposed development consists of a mixed use integrated development that includes a conference and expo centre, a waterfront village, a tourism village (that includes business and retail), a knowledge and corporate offices park, a eco-estate, high density residential/ social housing, sport facilities, a network of open spaces and water features, access and through roads.

• Longlands Country Estate (Stellenbosch)

 100 exclusive up market Single Residential units in the heart of Stellenbosch Winelands. 

• Knysna River Reserve (Knysna) (Estimated Project Value : R1.2 Billion)

 Exclusive Knysna River Reserve Hall of Fame Resort. Estimated 550 units.  

• River Park Retirement Village

Hartenbos River Park Retirement Lifestyle Resort will be comprised of 196 residential units.  

• Karoo Heritage Golf Estate

An estimated 500 units on the championship golf course at Oudtshoorn.

• Lake Brenton

The development will be comprised of 70 exclusive resort units on waterfront of Knysna Lake.  

• Welgevonden Residential Development

The development will be comprised of an institution for physically and mentally handicapped people, 3 business units and approximately 400 residential units.

• Kraaibosch Estate, George

The development will be comprised of approximately 220 residential units.  

We also serve as legal advisors to other small and medium property developers.

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS

A pivotal policy of Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc is to foster strong and enduring relationships with certain key business partners. The focus in this context is to add value to the businesses of our clients by means of inter alia furnishing legal advice to our clients and specifically running appropriate training programs with our strategic business partners focusing inter alia on the risks involved in property development in general and also the risks incidental to financing development projects and commercial properties by identifying prominent pitfalls. In the aforementioned respect our focus is on the following sectors, especially related to the property market:

• Credit Committees Of Our Corporate Clients Including The Banks On Whose Panels Our Firm Serves. The Focus In This Context Is On:

• The risks incidental to financing development projects including the possible risks incidental to building loans, the lapsing of zoning- and other land use rights from a financing risk perspective, reliance on zoning certificates regularly issued by local authorities, restrictive title- and other conditions and very importantly the huge risks involved in possible previous environmental- and other planning (rezoning, subdivision, consent and departure approvals) given in the past in respect of a specific property which might not be evident from the title deeds of the properties.
• Valuers And Association Of Valuers:
• The value of any property is in material respects determined by its existing land use rights, but very importantly also its development potential within the macro planning framework of the local authority in whose jurisdiction the property is located.
• Specific emphasis is placed on how to accurately and reliably determine the zoning of the relevant property involved. Very recent case law in the High Court of South Africa has clearly indicated that developers and financiers of property cannot rely on zoning certificates issued by local authorities. Specific emphasis is placed on the procedural steps to be followed to accurately and reliably determine the zoning of a property and how financiers of property should frame appropriate conditions precedent to the approval of property finance to be included in agreements and approval facilities.
• The macro planning framework determines the development potential of any property and specific emphasis is placed on the Provincial Statutory Structure Plan, known as the Western Cape Provincial Spatial Development Framework, approved in terms of section 4(7) of the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 and specifically its policies regarding urban edges and densification of Municipal jurisdictions.
• Since the commencement of the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 on
  1 July 1986, it is now for the first time possible, pursuant to the approval of the Western Cape Provincial Spatial Development Framework, for role players in the property market to know in which areas what type of development and land uses will be allowed in the towns of tomorrow. An electronic training program run by our firm illustrates the guidelines for spatial planning by means of a detailed discussion of the planning documents and electronic mapping of the principles relevant to the determination of urban edges as well as densification of towns.

• Developers And Estate Agents

• The electronic training for Developers and Estate Agents focuses in detail on the abovementioned principles with specific emphasis on the existing land use rights as well as the development potential of properties within the specific municipal jurisdictions.
• Training sessions are structured in such a way that the first half of the training sessions deal with the relevant planning principles, policies and macro planning frameworks and plans and the second half of the training sessions deal with questions and practical case studies.
• All aspects of the training are illustrated by means of relevant practical documents used in practice when authorities and consultants deal with the abovementioned questions. Any interested client can contact us to view any aspects of interest to our electronic training.

• Local Authorities

• As remarked above, Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc serves as external legal advisor to George Municipality, Eden District Municipality, Hessequa Municipality, Knysna Municipality, Oudtshoorn Municipality, Mosselbay Municipality and Theewaterskloof Municipality.
• The legal assistance of Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc specifically focuses on:
• Drafting of bylaws;
• Administrative decision making by Councils and Delegated Structures of Council and functionaries;
• High Court litigation with specific emphasis on land use, town planning, Local Government law, administrative law, municipal law and environmental litigation including review applications, interdicts and declaratory orders.
• On a continuous basis we furnish the local authorities with expert legal opinions on a variety of local government, planning and environmental law matters.
• Stadler & Swart Attorneys Inc is one of the leading conveyancing firms in George and has more than 26 years’ experience in municipal conveyancing and has in the past attended to the conveyance of properties on various low cost housing projects.

We foster particularly good relationships with the administration of the different municipalities.