Retrenched truck driver, Benedict September, lives in constant fear not knowing when will the court sheriff knock on his door and evict him from a two-bedroom rental flat in Roodepoort which has been his home for 12 years.
The father of three lost his job during the hard lockdown and he has since been unable to pay his monthly rental. September is among dozens of residents that the City of Joburg has decided to evict.
According to September, the unit he occupies should already be under his name because he was offered a rent-to-own lease agreement in 2010. His lease stipulates that he should own the flat after four years of uninterrupted rental payments.
The 58-year-old said he properly checked his lease agreement after he lost his job and that is when he realised that the City of Johannesburg social housing entity, Joshco, had allegedly violated their agreement by seeking to evict him.
“I always paid my rent on time. I never skipped a single month until I lost my job about two years ago. I decided to check my documents after I heard people in our complex complaining about their lease agreements. After checking my documents, I noticed that I should have stopped paying for this flat after four years of occupation. My documents prove that I should have been given full ownership for this flat a long time ago,” he said.
September is not the only one making this claim.
A group of tenants from Tshedzani flats in Roodepoort is making similar accusations against Joshco.
The group last week marched to the office of the mayor Mpho Phalatse to demand for the evictions to be halted. The residents were allocated the rental flats around 2010.
Many in this group lost their jobs over the last two years and have been unable to meet their monthly rental payments.
Now the group is planning to take Joshco to court over claims of unfair business practice and bridge of contract.
Jeanette Pearlman is another Roodepoort tenant that claims to have been offered a rent-to-own lease agreement.
“All we want from Joshco is our title deeds and for them to repay us all the money we paid after four years of occupation. The lease agreements in our possession clearly state that we were not supposed to pay rent after four years of occupation.
“Last week we told Joshco that they must stop these evictions. They must give us what is due to us. If they don’t respond to our demands we will take this matter to court. We have already started consulting a team of lawyers,” said Pearlman.
But Joshco poured cold water on all accusations, saying it has never offered rent-to-own leases.
“Such an agreement never existed. Joshco does not have stock for rent-to-buy. All our units are strictly for rental. The tenants have to understand that social housing units are not meant for permanent occupation but they are an intervening measure to address the housing backlog through rental stock,” said Joshco spokesperson Nthabiseng Mphela.
The company urged tenants with rent-to-own lease agreements to bring them forward for investigation.
Mphela said Joshco offered relief payment options for tenant impacted by Covid.
She said many tenants did not communicate with Joshco when they started experiencing financial challenges.
“During the hard lockdown we ran an extensive campaign urging tenants that could not keep up with payments to make use of our relief options. We even gave discount vouchers but many of the tenants did not take up our offer. Eviction applications are always instituted as a last resort,” said Mphela.
The residents are to meet with Joscho management tomorrow.
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
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