A bid by council to auction nine municipal houses was called off at the last minute after the outraged occupants sought legal advice and wrote to the MEC for Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs, the Human Rights Commission, Public Protector and Auditor-General.
On the day of the auction, February 7, Municipal Manager S Ntombela informed the auctioneers, DG Auction House, that due ‘to internal processes, the sale has had to be informed’.
Deposits of up to R10,000 required to join the bid had to be refunded.
Reliable sources told the Courier that a handful of would-be buyers from out of town had arrived for the auction and were surprised to find that the sale had been called off.
It was said that no local buyers were present because of the outcry from the occupants that was highlighted in a previous Courier.
Those who would have lost their homes due to the auction claimed that the municipality had discriminated against them, as those living in another seven (or so) council houses were allowed to pay a deposit and pay off the balance through a ‘rent-to-buy’ system.
In papers to the municipality, the residents warned that if the sale of the houses had proceeded which would have led to them being evicted, it would have seen huge civil claims against the municipality, which would have put further strain on the financially strapped institution.
Slovo Mbatha, who lives in one of the house that was to have been auctioned, welcomed the ‘last-minute decision by Endumeni Local Municipality to hold the unlawful auction of our homes.
However, this was mainly because we had reported the unlawful sale of these homes, which was in direct violation of our basic human rights.
“We reported the unlawful sale of these homes to several institutions including the National Minister of Cogta; the MEC; the Public Protector; the Auditor-General; the Human Rights Commission; and the local press. Suffice it to say that the response was pleasantly surprising, with the Minister’s Office being utterly shocked at the lack of response from the municipality, despite personal service by the sheriff and the blatant disregard for our rights.
“We will await further feedback, as we were informed of a meeting with the Minister’s Office, where we could table our concerns and we will have legal representation at such meeting so that the underhanded dealings in the sale of these houses can be exposed.
“The fact that Endumeni Local Municipality is charging us market-related rental as well as property rates is also a form of abuse, as property rates is the burden of the owner of a property, not the tenants who are paying rent, so why are we taxed both ways?
“These are the kinds of issues that we will raise at the appropriate forum.”
There has still been no official response from the municipality, save the statement confirming the cancellation of the sale.
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