A Thembisa man who sold his land and later returned to claim the property after an RDP house was built, is fighting to convince the court that he is the rightful owner of the property.

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg said that there was no evidence which proved that the seller, Lawrence Mashamaite, owned the sold land to Thobedi Collins Mohlala.

According to court papers, Mohlala purchased the land from Mashamaite for R8,000 in June 2001.

The first instalment, apparently paid upon signing the agreement, was R4,000, and the balance was to be settled in monthly instalments of R500, with the final instalment paid in February 2002.

After completing the payment, Mohlala improved the property by constructing seven rooms, which he rented out to tenants.

In 2016 or 2017, the government further improved the property by constructing an RDP house. This triggered a dispute when Mashamaite claimed he was still the owner of the property and sought to evict Mohlala from the premises

Mashamaite managed to obtain an eviction notice against Mohlala in November 2022. In December 2022, Mohlala approached the high court to claim his property back.

In his application, Mohlala sought a declaration that he owns the property pursuant to the June 2001 sale agreement, an order directing the Ekurhuleni Municipality to amend its records to reflect his ownership, and an order directing the Registrar of Deeds to register the property in his name.

In his answering affidavit, Mashamaite denied that he entered into a sale agreement with Mohlala. He also denied that he received any payments from the deal.

Furthermore, he stated that he was allocated the property under the terms of the national housing subsidy scheme, and at the time when the land was apparently bought from him, he did not have the right to alienate the land allocated to him.

However, he failed to address the three affidavits which Mohlala had brought as proof of purchase. He didn’t even suggest that they were forged.

Judge Stuart David James Wilson said Mohlala’s affidavits contain the essentials of the contract he entered with Mashamaite, they record the time and manner of payment of each of the instalments.

He said there was confirmation that the property was handed over to Mohlala end of February 2002.

“The affidavits and the annexure may safely be accepted as genuine. It follows that Mr Mashamaite’s assertion that he never entered into the agreement they embody is plainly false,” said Judge Wilson.

Moreover, Judge Wilson stated that there was no evidence presented to him suggesting that Mashamaite owned the land at the time he purported to sell it, apart from a municipal account in his name and the agreement between the parties that he owned the property at the time of purchase.

“I have not seen a title deed evidencing Mr. Mashamaite’s ownership of the property, apparently because title deeds for the state subsidised houses constructed at Winnie Mandela have not yet been issued.”

As a result, Judge Wilson ordered the Ekurhuleni Municipality, the MEC for Human Settlements and Registrar of Deeds, to give reasons on August 8, 2024 explaining why Mohlala should not be declared the owner of the property.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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