Rockview tenant accused of fraud and theft

The owners of 47 Rockview Road who lost their home in a washaway on 22 April allege the tenants rented their property under false pretenses, and vandalised and looted the property while it was unsafe. Al and Margie Beatham, who reside in Rome, said Lana, whom they allege never provided her surname, contacted them to say her client was keen to rent.

“Once we received the rental agreement, Lana had reduced the rental amount to R16 800 without consulting us. She also requested 10 per cent of the annual rental as a finder’s fee, which amounted to a full month’s rent and R800 as a monthly administration fee, which we refused. We agreed on R7 000 as a finder’s fee and R700 for her monthly administration fee.

“A deposit of R16 800 and a full month’s rent, totalling R33 600, should have been paid to Lana. She said she would reduce her placement fee to R7 000 “on condition that it is deductible from the first month’s rent”. The client had to pay R33 800, less the finder’s fee, before he took occupation on 1 March, however, we only received R9 100 payment as the first month rental.

“Unbeknown to me all this time was that Lana, the renting agent, was the client Johan Fourie’s wife. I only found out in May by chance,” said Al. Alarms bells started to ring when no rent was paid for April, but the tenant complained about a list of repairs needed to the property. Al flew to South Africa to fix the faults at the end of March. While still working on the repairs, Al contacted Lana on 4 April to complain the rent had still not been paid.

READ ALSO: Toti hero warned residents about Rockview Road collapse

Al and Margie flew back to Rome on 17 April and the house collapsed on the night of 22 April. Before the collapse, Al enquired again about the outstanding rent and Lana’s response was: “No payment reflects in our businesses account as yet… I did speak to the tenant… he said he will e-mail me conformation of payment asap”.

The Beathams were then informed via a letter dated 30 April that the tenant had cancelled the lease on 21 April, the day before the collapse. “Up to this point I still had no clue Lana was Johan’s wife. Throughout all our correspondence, she was acting as a third-party rental agent, but in reality, she was living on the property with Johan. At the end of the day the Fouries lived in a R16 800 a month property for almost two months and they only paid R9 100 rent. And no deposit was paid.

After the collapse Al received a message from Johan on 23 April that he returned to the house to salvage what he could, but was not allowed in. He said he can get a crane to recover his cars that had disappeared into the chasm, which Al advised him against and enquired about the credentials of the rigging company and whether the operation had been approved.

Al told the SUN that a team of eight men allegedly organised by Johan went into the house and removed five beds, clothing and documents, four TVs and all that the Fouries had in the house. Al opened a police case of fraud and vandalism against Johan and the men.

READ ALSO: Temporary Rockview Road opened on time

Once news of the disaster spread, the community jumped up to offer the Fouries assistance. A disaster fundraiser was set up to help the Fourie family, with a goal of R750 000 to replace all they had lost, which is now disabled.

“My point here is not to retrieve my losses from Johan, because I know it would never happen – it is to make the public aware of the fraud and theft. They are begging because they have lost everything, but in reality they got everything out of the house, knowing that the house was unstable and unsafe to enter. The public must stop helping these people and stop donating to them, because it is a misuse of the public’s generosity.

Response from Johan Fourie:

“We did not vandalise the property – random people vandalised the property and stole items… the security company and petrol attendants across the road confirmed this.

“All emails had the full signature of the company and full name of Lana Fourie from first negotiations. Lana was not the client and she is not married to me in community of property. I was the tenant and signed the lease, and it is perfectly legal for any agent to stay in a rented property.

“There were urgent repairs (to the property) that was done by contractors and the owners agreed that these may be paid from the first month’s rent. We feel that he neglected his duty as an owner to upkeep the property and ensure the safety of his tenants.

“The binding contract was not effective from 22 April, as the property was not in a condition to be lived in, so for obvious reasons the contract could not extend past 21 April. The contract was not cancelled for any other reason other than the fact that the property collapsed on us in the middle of the night. Surely the owners could not expect us to stay there or pay for the period after the tragedy.

“I waited for the city engineers to okay the safety of entering the property before I went in. The house was severely vandalised already and most of my belongings were stolen and it was too late to salvage everything. Nobody acting for me vandalised the property – it is common knowledge that the property was vandalised at random.

“The owner promised to pay out to assist me for my losses from the third party cover of his insurance, as he knew he had some liability in the fact that the property was not safe or suitable for use. He is trying to black smear me to avoid making any payments and is not honouring his promises and his word to me.”

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