A Cape Town sheriff could land in hot water for ignoring last-minute instructions from an attorney to cancel an auction of an upmarket Atlantic Seaboard property.Sheriff Nelson Ntsibantu prompted a shouting match at the well-attended auction of the Sea Point apartment last week when he refused to stop proceedings.This despite the owners of the property and their creditor having settled shortly before the bidding.The incident was captured on video and widely circulated.Ntsibantu was clearly instructed to halt the auction by the instructing attorney, acting on behalf of the creditors who were about to repossess the property due to outstanding debt. The attorney informed the sheriff that the auction was unnecessary as a last-minute settlement had been reached with the owner.However, Ntsibantu ignored the plea, and proceeded much to everybody's surprise.In the video the sheriff becomes involved in a heated exchange with the instructing attorney and other onlookers.At one point one of the attendees asks the sheriff: "Why are you doing this?" To which Ntsibantu replies: "Because I want to."Ntsibantu told the Times he had decided "provisionally" to go ahead with the auction because he had received no formal instruction to cancel. Only upon receiving formal instruction, through a letter, two days later, had he approached the successful bidder to inform him that the auction was null and void, Ntsibantu said.He said he had been duty-bound to conclude the auction, which had already commenced."It (the auction) has to be finished. If someone comes out from the audience and says I am instructing you, you would need official confirmation before you can comply."You have to stand up and make a decision. I continued with the sale provisionally," Ntsibantu said.The attorney said he had written to the sheriff's office on his client's behalf to demand the auction be declared null and void.Several industry experts slammed the sheriff's actions as "bizarre".The instructing party to an auction could legally cancel proceedings right up until bidding began.A former sheriff who wished to remain anonymous slammed Ntsibantu's actions as "absurd", claiming they defied the key principle of acting in the best interests of the parties involved."I've cancelled auctions where bidding has started," he said...