An estate agent has been caught red-handed ripping a signboard‚ advertising the services of a competing agent‚ from the lawn outside a house in Melville‚ Johannesburg. CCTV footage‚ posted to YouTube‚ captured Willem Prinsloo‚ an estate agent at Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty‚ removing a Seeff signboard‚ belonging to Matthew Harvey‚ from the property.Driving down the street in a silver-grey Citroën‚ shortly before 3.30pm on Monday August 15‚ Prinsloo ‚ who was wearing a check shirt and sunglasses‚ parked his vehicle outside the Melville home and using a firm grip‚ wrestled the board out of position.He then placed the board into his vehicle‚ climbed back in‚ made a U-turn in a nearby driveway and drove a short distance away to park his car.Harvey‚ speaking to TMG Digital on Tuesday‚ described the removal of his board as “unethical”.Managing Director of Seeff Randburg‚ Chris Hajac‚ said that while the removal of boards was “part of doing business” in the highly competitive industry‚ it was a big shock when this was caught on video.Hajac was unaware of the perpetrator’s identity. “I do know that it is nobody from our company‚ that I can assure you‚ whether or not it is a competing agent‚ or whether or not it is some other individual that is a neighbour on the street or is involved in a community organisation‚ I’m not a 100% sure‚” he said.But Hajac added that boards go missing “all the time”.“It’s a fact of life‚ when you practice real estate‚ that your boards go missing and disappear all the time. Our standard practice is to just keep an eye on it and re-board if necessary‚” he said.The removal of such a board can only be authorised by the SAPS and municipal authorities.“Often there are times that a board is in contravention of the municipal bylaws as it pertains to boards‚ even if that is the case‚ the responsibility falls either on the municipality or local authorities or the police - an individual should not remove a board‚” Hajac said.Prinsloo did not want to provide reasons for his act when contacted by TMG Digital‚ but said that “the board was not quite legit” before directing all further enquiries to his attorney‚ Ernest Van Zyl.However‚ Van Zyl said: ‘I can’t comment on that now. I don’t have any instructions. What I can tell you is that we are busy handling the matter. We are going through the necessary routes”.Hajac added: “I wouldn’t say I’m happy that this video has surfaced‚ it is a cause for concern and it's somewhat disconcerting to see that someone other than the proper authority has removed the board”.The Melville Residents’ Association (MRA) said in a statement that it would like to distance themselves from Prinsloo's actions.While Prinsloo is a committee member of the MRA for Physical Environment‚ the association said that he was "not acting on behalf of the MRA‚ or the MRA Committee" when he was captured on the CCTV footage."We have given Willem Prinsloo an opportunity to explain his actions and will act once he has had a chance to represent himself‚" said the MRA.According to the MRA website‚ Prinsloo “has lived in and loved our suburb for 25 years. His vast knowledge of the wide variety of homes in Melville allows him to match residents and properties during the course of his work – real estate – which is his other passion”...