Rental agreement sparks battle

When 75-year-old pensioner Elizabeth Mthombeni built herself a house which she thought she would live in happily ever after in her twilight years, little did she know that her dream home would one day become a nightmare and lead to countless sleepless nights.

With tears in her eyes, the hardworking, soft-spoken elderly lady spoke to Kathorus MAIL about the hardship she is suffering because the tenant she is renting her house to is allegedly reneging on their contractual agreement.

“I think it is high time that I spoke to someone who is going to listen to me. Everyone I have spoken to regarding this problem have been unable to help me,” she said.

She explained how she rented her house to a medical doctor who wanted to use the property as a surgery. “We signed a five-year lease agreement with Dr Okitadimatja Jean-Pearre Okitokenge. In the agreement, the rental was R4 000 a month,” explained the distraught pensioner.

The property had been broken into some time before the doctor moved in, she said. “The electricity cables were stolen, plugs were removed from the wall, the ceiling board was badly damaged, water pipes were damaged, doors and windows were broken and the tiles were removed on the side of the roof.”

Mthombeni said before the doctor moved in, he repaired all the damage and showed her a slip of about R29 630.

“Because of the damage that he fixed in the house, we agreed that he would pay me a rental of R500 for a period of nine months to recover the money he spent repairing the house.”

But before the period was up, the doctor vacated the premises without telling her or her lawyer.

“I don’t even know where he left the keys,” she said. “What worries me the most is that there is another female person, Dr Zwane, who works with Dr Okitokenge, and she is now using my house as her surgery and I don’t know how she got permission to use my house because I don’t know anything about it. As to who she made arrangements with I don’t know,” said Gogo Mthombeni.

Mthombeni gave the Kathorus MAIL the contact numbers of Dr Zwane. They arranged to meet at the surgery but when Kathorus MAIL got there all the doors were locked. On further enquiry Dr Zwane said by phone that she was attending to an emergency in Germiston.

“A client called me so I had to rush here. But you can come by the Germiston taxi rank. The surgery is two minutes away,” she said.

The Kathorus MAIL went to Germiston but the doctor did not pick up her phone.

When the Kathorus MAIL contacted Dr Zwane from a different number the following day she picked up the phone and responded to the allegations that she was using the premises illegally.

She said that she already had an agreement with Gogo Mthombeni but she couldn’t discuss anything with Kathorus MAIL. She also said that she would have a meeting with Mthombeni on August 11 to make other arrangements and would talk to us once they had reached an agreement.

But Mthombeni said she wanted no part of Dr Zwane.

“If she wants to use the house she must see my lawyer and draft an agreement with him. If an agreement has been made with my lawyer she must respect it and pay me monthly and on time. She must stop using my premises without my permission. I want nothing to do with her at this point in time,” said Mthombeni.

According to Dr Okitokenge, he came to rent the house that had been vandalised a long time ago.

“The damage I had to fix cost me almost R30 000. That is why I have been paying Mthombeni so little. It is because I have been recovering the money I spent renovating the house. I put in new doors, windows, ceiling, electricity, water and everything that was damaged before I arrived. She then breached my contract by chasing me away and I decided to vacate the place. I want nothing to do with the story now; it is harassment, especially now that I have just lost my father,” said Dr Okitokenge.

The Kathorus MAIL also phoned the office of the lawyer who is handling the case of Elizabeth Mthombeni. The secretary who picked up the phone said that she was going to give the lawyer the Kathorus MAIL’s contact details but as of Friday, August 12 there had been no call from the lawyer’s office.