Questions raised over mayor’s undervalued Heidelberg home

Concerned property owners in the Lesedi local municipality in Gauteng have raised concerns about the valuation of mayor Mluleki Nkosi’s house in Berg En Dal, Heidelberg Extension 12, which they claim is significantly below market value.

According to residents who spoke to The Citizen on condition of anonymity, the mayor bought the erf in June 2019 for R640 000, reportedly in cash, and built a double-storey home.

Despite the substantial improvements, the property is listed on the municipality’s valuation roll at R800 000.

Concerns mount over Lesedi mayor’s house valuation

“The stand only was purchased for R640 000 as vacant land, has since been improved and he moved into the house in 2024. But the property is still valued according to the [municipal valuation roll] at R800 000 while the market value would be closer to R3.5 million,” a resident said.

Another resident said, according to Windeed Property, Nkosi and his first wife are the registered owners of the upmarket property, which was registered in the Pretoria deeds office in March 2020 for the initial purchase price of R640 000.

She said the property of about 2 065m² was substantially improved with a double-storey house, double garages and enlarged paved parking area on the heights of Berg En Dal.

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“The new municipal valuation roll was already implemented since 2023, with a supplementary roll approved in 2025 on the improved properties since then.

“Surely this raises questions and concerns about property values and preferential treatment,” the resident said.

This comes as the property owners in the municipality are awaiting a reserved judgment from the High Court in Johannesburg on the legality of the municipality’s new valuation roll, argued on 27 November 2025.

Awaiting High Court judgment

In October, The Citizen reported that the Gauteng provincial government’s condonation of Lesedi municipality’s failure to comply with the law in implementing its 2024-29 general valuation roll had come under fire.

A letter by Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), Jacob Mamabolo, dated 23 October, reportedly retroactively excused the municipality from due legal processes.

This was just weeks before the High Court in Johannesburg was due to hear the case on 24 November, where the municipality’s handling of the valuation roll was being challenged on the grounds of illegality.

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“We have paid hundreds to thousands of rands in legal costs fighting off the illegal evaluation. This, while the council and its executive waste our tax money and even contest the judicial overview at taxpayers’ expense,” she said.

Mayor Nkosi referred The Citizen’s questions to the municipal manager, who had not responded at the time of going to print.

A house previously built for the former mayor, Lerato Maloka, the current mayor of Sedibeng, on municipal stands 1812 and 1813 in Bergsig, Extension 9, in Heidelberg was abandoned after more than R1.8 million was spent on construction costs.

House previously built for former mayor

“They never even consolidated the stands and left the structure incomplete. “They attempted to auction it for a paltry R850 000,” lawyer and local resident Bouwe Wiersma said.

“As the improvements encroached and consolidation was never effected, even this deal fell through.”

He said the incomplete building was today a stark reminder of how wasteful expenditure was approved by council members loyal to their mayor.

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