One of the Trustees resigned and then a couple of days later he wanted to retract his resignation – how does this work? And also as a result of his resignation, I am now the only Trustee left – what does the ST Legislation say about this?
When a Trustee resigns they cannot just retract their resignation a number of days after the fact. But it is possible for the remaining Trustees to co-opt this person again – if the vacancy has not yet been filled. For instance, if the AGM decided there must be 5 Trustees and one resigns then there is a vacancy that can be filled to get back to 5. But the Trustees can only fill vacancies – not co-opt more than that – in other words, they cannot co-opt two people and now have 6 Trustees.
The STSM Act states the following:
PMR 7
(5) If a trustee ceases to hold office —
- the remaining trustees; or
- the members in general meeting, may appoint a replacement trustee.
This brings us to the next part of the question. The STSM Act states that there must be a minimum of two Trustees.
So when there is only one Trustee left that person must either co-opt another person (could be the one that previously resigned and wants to retract it) or he/she must call a general meeting for the owners to elect Trustees.
The STSM Act states the following:
PMR 10.(1)No document signed on behalf of the body corporate is valid and binding unless it is signed on the authority of a trustee resolution by —
- two trustees or the managing agent, in the case of a clearance certificate issued by the body corporate in terms of section 1 5B(3)(0(aa) of the Sectional Titles Act; and
- two trustees or one trustee and the managing agent, in the case of any other document.
So it is not possible to continue with only one trustee.