No pet policy sets the cats among the pigeons at Zimbali Estate

A Zimbali resident’s request to keep a small dog has triggered a governance war and two high court battles involving a “rogue” chairperson, “not uncontroversial” actions by a board member, and an “irregular” homeowner’s investigation into the posh KwaZulu-Natal estate’s no-pets policy.

In the first matter last Wednesday, Zimbali Management Estate Association (Zema) director and chartered accountant Gaynor Arnold sought an urgent interdict to stop a May 21 meeting, called by chair Marc Dunlop to remove her from the board.

Arnold says this is because she is a “thorn in his side” and acting in the interests of the estate, challenging him on governance issues.

In her papers, she says the dispute arose because she and Dunlop were divided on several governance issues, including the estate’s controversial no-pets policy — a blanket rule on owning cats and dogs because the estate is a protected conservancy.

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