The tenant who won’t leave

South Africans are no strangers to bureaucratic indifference. But sometimes a single story reveals just how deeply systemic failure has set in.

A Moneyweb reader – at her wits’ end – shared her sad tale of losing more than R500 000 after a tenant moved into her house under false pretences, then refused to pay rent and won’t leave.

The email describes the owner’s serious dilemma and highlights the risks of investing in rental property. She says the elaborate scam involves fake documents, visa violations, falsified payslips and a brazen abuse of legal processes.

The reader owns a R4.5 million property in Parkwood and she says almost every institution charged with protecting honest citizens – including the Rental Housing Tribunal, the police, SA Revenue Services (Sars), the Department of Home Affairs, banks and the courts – has failed to act.

“This isn’t just about me,” she says. “This is happening to people all over the country. Just because we are ordinary South Africans, we are expected to absorb the loss and move on.

“Must we accept that this is just the way things are? I have the evidence to show how to thrive illegally in this country and get away with it,” she says.

The facts are straightforward. The owner leased her property to a man who arrived in a Land Rover, claiming to run multiple businesses.

He promised to pay six months’ rent upfront into a trust account. Needless to say, that never happened.

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“He paid rent for the first three months. Then nothing. After a protracted battle, I managed to extract another three months’ payment. Since then, for more than seven months, not a cent.

“Meanwhile, rates and taxes have gone unpaid, my bond with Investec is under pressure and my overdraft facility has been threatened,” she says.

The reader says she had to sell her car, take on extra consulting work, and drained her savings to keep the house from being repossessed.

Despite the clear breach of contract, her efforts to get rid of the defaulting tenant were unsuccessful. She alleges that the Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal has refused to enforce the lease’s termination clause or allow eviction proceedings.

“Instead, they insist on inspecting the house to determine whether the tenant’s ‘comfort’ has been adequately prioritised.

“The tenant has refused entry to me as the owner and landlord as well as the rental agents – and even the inspectors that were appointed by the tribunal. Nonetheless, the tribunal has imposed maintenance obligations on me, but I cannot access my own property to do the work.

“They told me that my notice of termination means nothing. They say we must wait for another inspector. Or another tribunal officer. Or another counterclaim. Each one delays the case for months,” she says.

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False documents

According to the homeowner, the tenant submitted false payslips with tax deductions that do not match standard Sars tax tables. His visa documents appear fraudulent – a claim the owner says has been (verbally) confirmed by Home Affairs officials.

Despite this, officers at the Rosebank Police Station refused to open a case of fraud. When she tried to remove her furniture from the property, the police were called and stopped her.

She says the tenant’s personal bank account, held at RMB Private Bank, has seen more than R2 million in activity over just two months, based on the copy of the bank statements she insisted on when considering the lease.

“He lives on the premises with his girlfriend and at least two other men who are not SA citizens. He claims to run several businesses, but I could not find any confirmation that any of the businesses exist. None are registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

“He writes his own legal letters, which a real law firm then forwards on their official letterhead. He knows the system better than anyone,” the homeowner claims.

“He knows that all you need is a delay. Just say ‘I submitted a counterclaim’, and the tribunal will postpone again. No one checks anything.”

She believes the bank statements the tenant offered are fake. “But RMB has ignored my repeated emails asking for verification.”

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Institutions in silos

What’s striking in this case is how every institution involved seems either unwilling or unable to act. There appears to be no coordination between Home Affairs, Sars, CIPC, the banks or the tribunal.

The homeowner has done a lot of research about the errant tenant. She says he has a student and a working visa, a contradiction in itself. “He apparently operates businesses in clear violation of his immigration status. He is not Vat registered, has no visible employees, and does not file tax returns. His companies’ addresses cannot be verified.

“And yet, the banks have not flagged his transactions under anti-money laundering or Fica (Financial Intelligence Centre Act) rules. Home Affairs will not intervene unless he is found on a public street or place of business. The tribunal demands that the landlord comply with obligations, even while being denied access to the property.

“I’ve contacted every institution I can think of,” she says.

This is not just a personal nightmare. It points to a national governance failure that affects thousands of property owners, particularly middle-income landlords who cannot afford long legal battles.

South African law appears to offer tenants near-absolute protection, while offering landlords almost no practical recourse when contracts are ignored or fraud is involved.

This imbalance is often justified as protecting vulnerable tenants, but the unintended result is that unscrupulous operators, including illegal immigrants and con artists, can exploit the system with impunity.

“What is the point of the law if someone with fraudulent documents can move into a house, refuse to pay rent, violate immigration law and still be protected?” the aggrieved landlord asks.

ALSO READ: Here’s a list of what your landlord is responsible for in your rented flat

Legal delays

The economic cost is real. The property owner estimates that her direct loss already exceeds R500 000, excluding legal fees and unpaid municipal charges. Multiply that across similar cases nationwide, and the scale becomes obvious.

“This tenant lives rent free in a R4.5 million home with a permanent ‘guard’ who’s not South African. Meanwhile, I’ve had to sell my car to pay rates.” The homeowner adds that the system fails to protect landlords and actively penalises them for trying to enforce legal agreements.

She argues that her problem highlights significant gaps in the legal system:

• Rental Tribunal: There must be clearer legal boundaries regarding the tribunal’s powers. Leases must matter; otherwise, why have contracts at all?
• There is no coordination between institutions. Visa status, tax compliance, business registration and tenant behaviour must be cross-checked in cases of alleged fraud.
• Bank oversight: Financial institutions must be held accountable for monitoring and flagging suspicious activity. “It cannot fall on private citizens to investigate a bank’s clients,” the homeowner says.

She also asks that landlords get some support. “Middle-income landlords need legal mechanisms and government-backed structures to address tenant abuse without being forced into expensive court battles.”

The landlord says her crooked tenant “is smart, charming, eloquent, and knows the law better than most lawyers. He is completely without accountability. The system seems to reward his behaviour”.

However, she’s not giving up, even if she knows she’s unlikely to recover her losses.

“This isn’t just my story. It’s a SA story. It is playing out, house by house, lease by lease.”

This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.