Sisulu's investment property to be auctioned off

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu stands to lose the luxury Sandton home she owns with her husband after failing to pay bond instalments and R160 000 in levies.

The former housing minister and her husband, Professor Rok Ajulu, borrowed almost R2 million to build the Riverclub house in 2004. Ajulu believes it's now worth more than R3m.

The couple now will have to launch a legal bid to keep the unit from going under the hammer at a public auction on March 23.

The Star has learnt that because their bond was in arrears, Standard Bank turned to the courts to repossess the property.

In another recent development, the homeowners' association of the complex, in Coleraine Drive, secured a Johannesburg High Court judgment to recover R161 045.81 in levies and penalties.

Despite the land being bought in 2004, the house remains unfinished. It is one of two plush investment houses - the other in Killarney, Joburg, - that the couple own.

A third, in Cape Town, was sold several years ago.

Sisulu claims the house is her husband's "project". Her involvement in it, she says, is purely technical because the two are married in community of property.

However, as a half-owner, Sisulu stands to gain or lose from the investment and is legally bound to the property.

Ajulu says a dispute with the builder of the house is to blame for the investment going sour. He admits receiving the summons from the bank but claims he made an offer to pay off the entire amount, plus interest, by August.

He was under the impression that negotiations were continuing and has vowed to interdict the auction - which he feels is not in his or the bank's best interest.

Ajulu, who works at Unisa and is involved in business, claims he never received a summons from the homeowners' association and did not know they had gone to court.

On returning from Nairobi yesterday, he said he would investigate.

The Star is in possession of the court documents - including the summons and judgment - relating to the levies debt.

According to these, the summons was served in November, giving the couple 10 days to declare an objection and another 20 days to state their case.

Attorney Dino Tserkezis, representing the homeowners' association, said Ajulu had made various promises to pay off the amount in instalments, but these had not been honoured. Tserkezis secured a judgment to recover the costs on January 20. His case was unopposed.

"The next step is execution of property," he said this week.

Tserkezis hopes he can "piggyback" on the bank's auction to avoid repossessing other property.

Deeds records reflect that Ajulu and Sisulu bought the land for the Riverclub house for about R600 000. They further secured a bond of R1.975m to build the unit. The records also reflect two interdicts against the property, which means two separate parties laying claim to the house.

Ajulu said he had asked the bank for "breathing space", telling them that he was expecting to make a healthy profit from selling an interest in coal mining, which would allow him to pay off the bond. He fears the house will sell for as little as R1.5m on auction.

He said he paid the bond until the dispute with the builder. He tried to sell the house but did not succeed. During this time, his account fell behind.

The Star

Posted at 10:47AM Mar 11, 2010 by Editor in Residential  |