City of Johannesburg confirm investigations into possible irregularities with municipal accounts of Belvedere Trust properties

Purchasers of paradise are lingering in perdition as they wait for vindication.

Family members of those left out of pocket or outright ignored by Belvedere Trust and their commercial front, Retirewell SA are continuing their collective fight to bring the retirement lifestyle promoters to book. Not content with being brushed aside as they beg for money owed to them, affected parties have been digging into the mechanics that have caused stress and confusion for several years.

Inquisitive adventures by residents and connected parties have uncovered possible red flags with the administration of City of Johannesburg(CoJ) accounts and town planning documentation. Previous legal challenges to the documentation had stalled but following renewed queries, the CoJ have confirmed the irregularities are being investigated by the senior law enforcement officials in the Development Planning department.

Some complainants staying anonymous for fear of victimisation or prejudicing their cases

Residents of the retirement villages are in the precarious position of seeking to better their positions but not wanting to upset the apple cart. One group of aggrieved residents have found that their CoJ accounts do not have matching registration numbers. As per pre-July 2016 standards, these numbers can only be issued when a development has completed all the necessary documentation and been issued with a Section 82 form. This lack of registration hampers queries with CoJ and the Ombudsman as complaints cannot be registered without the registration number.

Many Belvedere Trust developments have CoJ accounts that list the number of dwellings as ‘one’, despite there being between 30 and 50 units on any property. This forces residents to forego pensioner benefits and when applying for something as simple as additional rubbish bins they are denied based on the number of dwellings listed on the account. Property addresses are also irregular with the CoJ account still displaying the agricultural holding stand designations

Close calls and the relief of dodging a financial bullet

One Constantia Kloof couple came within a signature of being locked into the Retirewell SA carousel. Richard Hallet and his wife had put down a deposit of R100 000 to secure a unit at Regents Park Retirement Village. Taking full ownership of their life right at the village would be subject to the sale of their home and when that did not materialise, Richard went on an 18 month fight to have his deposit refunded.

The Hallets put down their deposit in 2019 and even after a court ruled in their favour, Richard says that Belvedere Trust would withhold payment based on a dispute over their signature on the settlement. While continuing his fight against Belverede Trust, one he would win earlier in 2022, Richard began looking into the company. Through persistent visits to municipal offices Richard was able to obtain documents that raised concerns about the procedures followed by developers of Belvedere Trust properties

Many properties are still listed as agricultural holdings with applications to be registered as townships stalling due to lack of compliance. Johannesburg Roads Agency, Johanneburg Water and City Power all feature heavily as entities whose standards and approvals had not been met up until and past 2017. External engineering services contributions, mentioned simply as ‘contributions’ in documents, are listed as being outstanding to the tune of almost R50 million.

These irregularities did not stop the properties from being developed but residents have sat with the fallout. Attending to maintenance at the developments have been problematic in the past and residents have had to find costly and creative ways to get the job done. Conveniently, a Section 82 form is needed for the sale of any property but as Belvedere Trust do not sell properties, the transaction of issuing life rights proceeds unaffected.

Third generation of family members effected by fallout

Lauryn Michelle Klemptner, a granddaughter of former Wilgeheuwel Retirement Village residents William and Ann Klemptner is among the youngest of frustrated family members. The couple were granted occupation from May 2009 and both would pass on by November 2020. To date the couple’s estate is still waiting for reimbursement despite the unit being listed as sold. Like many others, the Klemptners have been on a communication roundabout being pushed between the Retirewell SA sales agents and Belvedere Trust’s lawyers.

On the documents obtained by Hallet, Wilgheuwel Retirement Village still had ‘No Scheme Registered’ listed as of August 2017, eight years after Klemptner’s grandparents had moved into their unit. As well as an outstanding Section 82 form, no contributions had been paid and a JRA dispute of the road works where listed as errors. Despite the perceived lack of CoJ compliance, a private property management company is currently attempting to claim unpaid levies from the estate of the late Klemptners.

Civil interest group helping to raise the alarm

The list of complainants against Belvedere Trust spans the length of the country and those affected have enlisted the services of AfriForum’s Private Prosecutions Unit. Nelspruit resident Dr Cornell Nortier is one the vocal children of former residents. Dr Nortier’s mother-in-law lived at Sterlig Retirement Village and have been waiting two years for reimbursement of the life right payment.

Dr Nortier has gone a step further and approached the Legal Practise Council (LPC) to complain about Belvedere Trust’s administrator, Juliana Steyn. In Steyn’s response to that complaint to the LPC dated August 4 2022, Steyn brushed off concerns of late payments stating, “… collectively these developments consist of just under a thousand houses. They have approximately 36 litigation matters against them. In broad view, this a small percentage of aggrieved clients in any business”.

Answering a question in Dr Nortier’s complaint, Steyn, mentioned the payment of levies. She stated, “Dr Nortier’s claim that the developer has not paid Town Council fees and caused the elderly to be without water is needless to say ludicrous. I also note that there is no evidence of this allegation to his complaint”.

The radio silence from Juliana Steyn and those associated with Belvedere Trust is a main concern for all looking for a glimmer of hope. In her response to the LPC complaint, Steyn states her belief that her clients were misrepresented by a popular investigative journalism production and that following legal advice her and her clients would not engage with any further media outlets or inquires. Furthermore, Steyn described Dr Nortier’s complaint as a ‘personal attack’ and ‘an abuse of the LPC complaint system’.

Juliana Steyn and the Steyn brothers, developers and trustees of Belvedere Trust, did not respond to fresh questions sent to them via email. The LPC were also sent questions via email and their response will be shared once forthcoming. While families wait for life changing payments, development and marketing of Belvedere Trust properties continue much to the consternation of the distressed.