Fierce fight over tycoons' 19 auctioned houses

A TOTAL of 19 upmarket houses in Bulawayo were sold on Friday after their owners failed to service loans, mostly to banking institutions.

The houses, situated in the low-density suburbs such as Ilanda, Barham Green, Newton West, Parklands and Hillcrest belonged to business people who have failed to service loans from banks or defaulted in paying rentals at commercial premises they are operating at.

The houses were auctioned by Bulawayo Real Estate although empowerment group the Affirmative Action Group tried to stop the auction.The houses were bought for prices ranging between $12 000 and $85 000. BRE director Mr Mike Nekati said former owners of the houses can no longer reverse the sale.

"We are yet to compare the forced sale price with the bidding price to see if the bidding price is enough to pay back the expected money, then we can say the properties have been sold. However, the former owners cannot reclaim the properties because they have been auctioned already considering that they were given three weeks' notice as well," said Mr Nekati.

The AAG which was against the auction, sent its representatives to stop the auction but their efforts failed. AAG chief executive officer Mr Silani Paulus Mtshiya said the Sheriff's department did not follow all the procedures in giving the greenlight to conduct the auction.

"I think the Sheriff did not follow all the procedures. It is not a surprise that our economy is failing and we have defaulters when it comes to bank loans. Bankers should think outside the box when it comes to recovering their loans, the process should not leave people homeless. The right to housing is a constitutional right. Bankers should not criminalise their debtors, instead they should come up with other alternatives" said Mr Mtshiya.

AAG, on behalf of the affected person, filed an urgent court application at the High Court to stop the sale but Mr Nekati noted that the same court that approved the auction cannot reverse its own decision. In the application, AAG cited Sheriff of the High Court and Bulawayo Real Estate as first and second respondent respectively. The other respondents were the banks that are owed money. In the application AAG argued that selling of people's houses was an injustice and an affront to the rights to human dignity and shelter as espoused in the Constitution.

"The High Court sale cannot be reversed, only a Supreme Court interdict can stop it, the Sheriff's office is responsible for the auction. By leasing these properties, the bank is trying to return monies owed to the depositors fund, the money belongs to the people. It is confusing. Whose interests AAG is protecting? A few individuals who owe the bank or those people owed by the bank?" asked Mr Nekati.