Legal rights of landlords of business premises: A comparative analysis between Zambia and South Africa

Abstract

The legal system of any country has either a negative or positive impact on domestic and foreign investment that a country will attract. One area of investment where the legal system can have an impact is real estate. In both Zambia and South Africa, the real estate sector plays a very vital social and economic role.In line with the socio-economic policies pursued by the government, a good legal system will strike a balance between property owners or landlords on one hand and tenants on the other hand. This is because property relations have the potential to cause social and economic upheavals in any country.The purpose of this study has been to find out what lessons, if any Zambia can learn from the South African legal system, specifically on the rights of landlords of business premises.The study starts with a general introduction through to the general conclusions and recommendations. It looks at the landlord's rights of benefit and exclusion in both Zambia and South Africa. The paper also analyses the procedures and grounds for termination of business leases in Zambia and South Africa. Then the procedure for collection of overdue rentals in both Zambia and South Africa is discussed.The findings of this research show that the Zambian property laws are not significantly different from the South African laws governing the rights of property owners and Landlords.After highlighting the differences in the two countries property laws, some recommendations are rendered. These include the need to amend the Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act.