Mahikeng High Court set aside sale of house valued at R1.5m but auctioned at R1,000
The property was the subject of a dispute between parties who were married in community of property and was part of a divorce settlement reached in 2022.
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JOHANNESBURG - The Mahikeng High Court in the North West has set aside the sale of a house valued at R1.5 million, but auctioned for a mere R1000.
The property was the subject of a dispute between parties who were married in community of property and was part of a divorce settlement reached in 2022.
In terms of the settlement, the house was to be sold, and the proceeds divided equally between them.
However, the auction took place with only two bidders and the winning bidder was the ex-wife’s attorney acting on her instructions.
The court found that not all was fair in love and war.
It set aside the sale of the house that happened in 2023 and interdicted and stopped the ex-wife from taking the transfer of the property into her name.
In a 14-page judgment, Judge Ronald Hendricks found the sale of the house flew in the face of the principle of fairness.
The court papers detail how the ex-husband found documents of the conditions of the sale of the property lying in the front yard of his house.
When he enquired at the Office of the Sheriff, he was informed that the house had already been sold for R1,000 which he would have to split in half with his former spouse.
Moreover, the court found that the property was not sold to an independent third party but that the ex-wife who placed the house on auction, had empowered her attorney to place a bid for the property.
The judge then found the process to be unfair to the ex-husband.