Court to hear appeal by MaxxLiving developer who failed to rebuild demolished homes

Gauteng-based Dutch developer Arthur Bezuidenhout, who has been found guilty of failing to rebuild the homes his company had demolished to make way for luxury homes, has appealed the ruling and it will be heard tomorrow.

Bezuidenhout and his company, MaxxLiving, were recently found guilty of civil and criminal contempt of court after they failed to obey the 28 July, 2022 ruling that ordered them to rebuild the brick houses they demolished to make way for luxury houses at Country Gardens Estate in Muldersdrift.

ALSO READ: ‘I regret investing in SA’ – MaxxLiving developer

In court papers, Bezuidenhout’s lawyers claimed there were errors in previous judgments where he was found guilty.

Reacting to the judgment handed down a few weeks ago, Bezuidenhout claimed to be a victim of corruption as he refused to bribe some people.

“We lack the resources for bribery, navigating through South Africa’s entrenched corruption solely with a commitment to building a community where diverse backgrounds coexist harmoniously,” he said at the time.

He even said he regretted investing in South Africa.

ALSO READ: Developer must rebuild the Muldersdrift homes it destroyed

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), the organisation that represented the 15 families in the matter, accused the developer of not wanting to take responsibility for his actions.

LHR lawyer David Dickinson said: “The two-year legal battle to bring justice for 15 families is being further prolonged after Bezuidenhout filed papers to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

“Since the houses were demolished, the families have lived in squalid temporary shelters, despite the original court order requiring their homes to be rebuilt within three months. This is nothing short of a Stalingrad defence.”