AGREEMENT OF LEASE

Between:

Mlangeni Property AssociationCompany (Pty) limited

And

Zareena Davids trading as Zareena Davids hair salon

Section 1

1.DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1.Commencement Date

The date upon which this Lease commences which shall be 1 January 2018.

1.2Lessor

Mlangeni Property Corporation (Pty) limited with registration number 06/22210/07 (MPC) (the lessor).

1.3Leased Premises

The commercial building including the parking area situate at 42 High Road, Greenacres, Johannesburg (the premises).

1.4Lessee

Zareena Davids (ID number: 800921 0769 009) (the lessee).

1.5Termination Date

The date upon which this Lease terminates which shall be 1 January 2023.

1.6Any reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa. Any reference to natural persons includes legal persons and vice versa and any reference to a gender includes the other genders.

1.7This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of South Africa.

2RENTAL

2.1The monthly rental payable by the Tenant to the Landlord during 2018 shall be R20 000.00 (twentythousand Rand).

2.2Thereafter, the monthly rental shall increase on 1 January of any given year at a rate identical to the annual CPI inflation rate calculated over the duration of the preceding year.

2.3All rentals payable shall be paid by the lessee monthly in advance on the first day of every calendar month.

3.MAINTENANCE OF THE PREMISES

3.1During the currency of this Lease, the lessee shall be obliged to maintain the interior premises in good order and condition, and, for such purposes, shall attend to such repairs and provide such replacements as may be required. Upon the termination of this lease, the lessee undertakes to deliver to the lessor the premises, in good order and condition and maintained as aforesaid, fair wear and tear excepted.

3.2Throughout the period of the lease, the lessor shall be responsible for the repair of any structural defects to the roof or outside walls of the premises.

4.SUBLETTING, CESSION AND ASSIGNMENT

...

5.BREACH AND TERMINATION

Should either the lessor or the lessee fail to punctually observe or perform any of the terms, conditions and/or obligations of this agreement, and failing rectification of such breach by the guilty party within 7 (seven) days after having been given notice in writing by the aggrieved party of such breach, then, without prejudice to any other remedies which it may have, the aggrieved party shall be entitled at its discretion either:

5.1to cancel this agreement and to claim such damages as it may suffer; or

5.2to enforce compliance with the provisions of this agreement and to claim such damages as it may suffer as a result of such breach.

You are the legal advisor to MPC. Mosiu Mlangeni (Mosiu), is the CEO of MPC, and he has approached you for advice in respect of the following legal issues relating to the lease.

1.Mosiu is very upset. He has received a demand from the lessee who states that in January 2020, during a storm, the roof in her salon was leaking. As a result, certain expensive hair straightening equipment was damaged. Advise Mosiu of the legal position in the following two circumstances where the lessee is now claiming the following from him:

1.1Reimbursement of the costs of the builder that she called to fix the leaking roof. The builder charged R15000 for the repairs. Mosiu claims that a reasonable builder would have charged R8000 for the same work.

Payment of the sum of R10000 to replace the equipment that was damaged by the water

2 . Mosiu further advises you that, since April 2020, the lessee has not been paying the rental amount, and has not been using the property for the stipulated purpose. Advise Mosiu of all the remedies available to the lessor in this regard.

3 . Advise Mosiu of his legal rights in the following circumstances (set out below), including a full consideration the legal effect of Covid-19 on lease contracts. Your answer must also offer Mosiu practical legal solutions.

Mosiu sent the lessee a letter of demand. On the 15 March 2021, she wrote back to him stating the following:

3.1 As a result of the government lockdown regulations that were promulgated on the 25 March 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, her hair dressing salon was forced to close.

3.2 She had therefore earned no income, and is unable to pay her rent.

3.3 Although the lockdown regulations have been incrementally relaxed, her customers are still nervous of coming back to the salon and her financial situation has therefore not improved.

3.4 In the circumstances, she denies any liability for payment of the rent.