Trees Overhang My Property

In South Africa when it comes to Building Regulations, I have this query from a reader on this website: “I’m in Naturena Johannesburg, my area is a bit slopy (sloping). My house is on an acute angle corner. Both neighbours 4m+ trees overhang into my yard and they are not concerned, so what is my recourse?”
Overhanging Trees: What Your Recourse Actually Is

Good news — the law is on your side here, and you don’t need your neighbours’ permission or cooperation to act.

Where a neighbour’s tree overhangs your property, whether branches or roots, you’re legally entitled to cut and remove anything that has crossed the boundary line, right up to where your property ends. If they don’t attend to it themselves after being asked, you have two options: prune the branches yourself and claim the cost back from them, or apply to court for an order compelling removal. PretoriatreefellingguruSTBB

A few practical rules to follow:

• You can trim back to the boundary line, but you can’t enter your neighbour’s property without permission to do the trimming. |
• Courts have held that notice should be given to the tree owner first before you cut. JJR Inc Attorneys
• Once cut, you must offer the branches back to your neighbour — you can only keep or dispose of them yourself if they refuse. DVH
• Don’t damage the health of the tree itself while trimming — that can expose you to a claim in the other direction.

If it escalates beyond overhanging branches — say the roots are affecting your foundation, retaining walls, or drainage on that sloping site — you’re entitled to cut the roots yourself, and if that doesn’t resolve the damage, you can approach a court for an order that the neighbour remove the tree along with a claim for damages. Cape Coastal Homes

One South Africa-specific wrinkle: check whether either tree is a protected species under South African law before you cut anything — some trees can’t be touched without a permit regardless of the nuisance they’re causing, and cutting a protected tree without authorisation is its own legal problem. Pretoriatreefellingguru

Practically, for your situation:
Given you’re dealing with two neighbours at once on a sloped, acute-angle corner property, I’d suggest:

Keep the “right to enjoyment of property” test in mind — courts don’t recognise a right to light or view in South Africa, so this is really about damage and unreasonable interference, not aesthetics Barter McKellar

Photograph and document the current overhang/damage from both properties (useful if this ever needs to go further)

Send a simple, polite written notice (WhatsApp or email is fine, but keep a copy) asking them to trim, giving a reasonable deadline

If no response, engage a tree service to cut back to your boundary at your cost — you can recover reasonable costs from them if needed