Under-fire ANC Buffalo City Metro councillor Ntombizodwa Gamnca has been implicated in another alleged house sale, this time for a NU6 sharing house which the owner apparently does not want to sell.
This comes after the Daily Dispatch reported last Saturday that three residents accused Gamnca and her husband, Andile, of “selling” them the same house in NU6 and failing to deliver title deeds.
Last week, Gamnca refused to comment on these allegations, saying the matter was personal, while Andile confirmed he received R300,000 last year for the house.
BCM confirmed this week that it was investigating the allegations.
And in the wake of the claims, resident Nozuko Fuma claimed Gamnca was also involved in the “illegal sale” of a NU6 sharing house for which she paid R160,000 in September last year.
Gamnca has been accused by angry residents of working with a Mdantsane entrepreneur, Mncedi Pato, in controversial house sales in the township. Speaking to the Dispatch this week, Fuma said she “bought” a four-roomed sharing house from Pato.
“I paid Mncedi Pato R160,000 for the house in NU6 after I was introduced to him by another man from my church. Pato told me he was the owner of the house and that there was no need to involve lawyers. However, when I wanted to view the house he kept on giving me the runaround.
“I decided to view the house on my own and I found a family was living there and they had no knowledge of the sale. I was shocked by this and upon enquiring from the person who introduced me to Pato, he said I must meet up with the ward councillor to sort the matter out,” said Fuma.
She told the Dispatch she had a meeting with Gamnca in October. However, when the Dispatch asked Gamnca about the meeting, she denied having met Fuma.
“Gamnca told me that the current tenants [Gedi family] would soon vacate the house as the owner of the house wanted to sell it due to financial problems.
“She later instructed Pato to tell me that the tenants would vacate the house following a meeting they had in November with the affected parties,” said Fuma.
Five months after transferring R160,000 into Pato’s bank account, Fuma is yet to occupy the house and she does not have a title deed.
“I took a loan for that house. I paid a further R1,800 and R3,000 to plaster it and for bricks to be bought to fence it off. I have been asking Pato to pay me back my money since last year but he does not want to pay it.”
When the Dispatch asked Gamnca about the alleged sale of the sharing house, she said she did not know anything about it.
But she confirmed having a meeting with the Gedi family and another family, the Gqobodwana family, who she said had been fighting over the house for years.
“When I had the meeting with the affected parties I was trying to assist the owner of the sharing house who wanted her house back. The tenant knows where they are supposed to ask about that house. The Daily Dispatch is not the municipality,” said Gamnca.
While the councillor denied knowing anything about the sale, Pato said Gamnca was indeed assisting him with the deal.
“I buy and sell houses. I told the buyer the house was mine because I did not want to involve a third party but I got the mandate to sell the house from the Gqobodwana family who are the owners of the house but live in Nxarhuni now. I have documents to prove my meetings with them.
“The buyer went behind my back and tried to do her own investigation and had a meeting with the councillor and the councillor told her that the current tenants would vacate the house. This is not the first case the councillor has assisted me with,” Pato said.
Asked why he had not paid Fuma’s money back, Pato said: “I can pay her back her money, I have no problem. I’m just surprised that she went to the Dispatch when she knows that the current tenants will move out of the house this month.”
A letter signed by Gamnca, Viwe Gedi and Sylvia Gqobodwana and seen by the Dispatch states that the Gedi family will vacate the house in May.
Sylvia Gqobodwana said: “We only met with Pato once in March last year and we never discussed any house sale with him. The councillor introduced us to him saying she worked with him from the municipality. She told us Pato would be able to check how much my mother owed BCM as we were busy trying to sort out the long outstanding dispute concerning that sharing house. We are not selling that house.
“The only document we have signed is the one talking about the eviction of the Gedi family as that is not their house. My mother had allowed them to stay when they did not have a place to stay,” said Gqobodwana.
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: “Obviously it is of great concern to us. An issue of sharing houses, which in this particular case is the case, is a matter that is resolved by way of a local councillor who has a role to play in terms of facilitating the parties concerned so that the issue does not go through the legal route.
“I think we will be in a better position after we have done an investigation to give a justifiable comment and take appropriate action on the matter,” Ngwenya said...