Hawks nab Mpumalanga estate agent for RDP house fraud

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in Mpumalanga have arrested an estate agent in connection with fraud involving the selling of state-subsidised houses (RDP).

51-year-old Helga Kruger was remanded in custody following her appearance before the Middelburg Commercial Crime Court on Thursday on charges of fraud.

She joins Fotoboy Makua, also known as Fofo (55), and Annica van Staden, (46), who have since been released on bail.

Mpumalanga provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said Kruger was arrested by the police elite unit’s Serious Commercial Crime Investigation based in Middelburg, and charged for RDP house fraud worth R100 000.

RDP scams

It is alleged that on 24 June 2014, Kruger advertised RDP houses of Tokologo Section in Middelburg on behalf of Housing First Property CC.

“The offer to purchase indicate that Housing First CC is the seller of the properties and it was registered on the name of Annica van Staden.

“She sold the property to the complainant for R100 000 and further requested the buyer to transfer the money into the business account of Foto Security Services,” Sekgotodi explained.

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She said Kruger should have known as “estate agent” that the property can only be transferred and registered in the name of the buyer once the conveyor attorney had received the money into his trust account.

Sekgotodi said the rightful owner of the property did not give anyone permission or mandate to sell the property.

She said the matter was postponed to 26 October for Legal Aid representative.

According to legal insurance firm Lipco’s Law For All, the law prohibits the sale of an RDP before the lapse of an eight-year occupancy without the permission of the Department of Housing. 

Should you want to ‘sell’ your house during this initial period, it must first be offered back to the State.

The firm emphasised that the owner would not paid for their house, because low-cost housing was not meant to be a profitable venture.