THE STAR
The Malvern East house which is at the centre of a dispute between two people who claim to have bought it. Picture: Boxer Ngwenya
The police were called in to break up a scuffle between two families that both claimed ownership of the same house in Malvern, Joburg.
The drama started shortly before 4pm when Olivier Serrao received a phone call from a neighbour of the disputed house in Mars Street, alerting him to people moving into the house. Alarmed, Serrao, who said he had bought the house through a bank on auction, immediately drove to the property. He arrived at the house to the sight of people unloading goods into the house and moving in. The family had broken the locks to gain access.
“I asked them to leave but they refused. So I called the police,” said Serrao, adding that their explanation was that they had bought the house from the same bank through their attorney.
“I asked them for the papers, but they didn’t have any. It was turning nasty,” he said.
Eventually, tensions were eased after Serrao and the other claimant, Joyce Kasahnayi, agreed that nobody would move into the house until the matter had been settled through the courts.
Serrao was due to move into the house in the new year, but put the plans on the backburner because the property did not have electricity.
“I think they have been sold the property illegally,” he said, showing the purchase papers.
Kasahnayi accused a relative of the Serraos of racially abusing her.
“They were swearing at us and threatening us.”
However, she admitted that she had not concluded the house deal and that she had moved in on the advice of her lawyer.
“We haven’t finished the deal. Our lawyer said we must move into the house if we didn’t want to lose it. And because we are going on holiday, we moved in. She said we must consult her if we had problems,” added Kasahnayi. Attempts to contact her lawyer were unsuccessful as the phone was off. – The Star
Excerpt from:
Ownership of home dispute turns sour