Aggrieved property owners have laid two fraud cases after their signatures were allegedly forged in documents that saw unfinished homes approved as complete and ready for occupation.
The properties are situated in the upmarket Everglades Estates, nestled near the Magaliesberg mountain range, in Hartbeespoort, North West.
Madibeng local municipality is accused of issuing fraudulent occupation certificates that were used to convince the banks that the properties were completed, according to two property owners who allege their signatures were forged.
In April, TimesLIVE Premium revealed major defects at some of the “completed” properties in the estate, which sold between R1m and R2m.
Three properties visited by TimesLIVE Premium had multiple cracked walls, flooding in shower cubicles, roof leaks and water seeping through walls and sliding and garage doors despite all having occupancy certificates issued by Madibeng.
Xolani Mabuza, who bought a R2.4m home on the estate, had started “digging and investigating” after moving into an incomplete property in April last year despite an occupation certificate being issued.
Mabuza, an ex-member of the Everglades board of directors, said the plan of his home in documents held by the bank was incorrect and belonged to someone else’s home, and electrical wiring was still not done though an occupation certificate had been issued by Madibeng.
He said the occupancy certificate was issued on April 23 2024. However, three days later when he moved into his three-bedroom property, he found his stove was not connected, while the electrical wiring was not done.
“I wrote to the bank and asked them to investigate. However, they said they did not do any vetting or validation of documents,” Mabuza said.
He said his own independent investigation established that Madibeng merely issued occupation certificates without even setting foot on the properties for physical inspection.
Mabuza initially went to the Hawks offices to report a fraud and corruption case, but his matter was referred to the Hartbeespoort police station, where a fraud case was registered last month.
He told TimesLIVE Premium he and his wife had, on several occasions, been followed by cars, and they believed this had something to do with his efforts to expose fraud and corruption at Everglades Estate.
North West police spokesperson Col Adéle Myburgh said: “I can confirm that Hartbeespoortdam police are investigating a fraud case after documents that the complainant requested from his bank contained a document with a fraudulent signature on it.”
Myburgh said no arrest had been made yet. “The case is still under investigation, and the investigating office is working under the guidance of the state prosecutor.”
Another aggrieved property owner, Kagiso Mutlaneng, who bought a R1.9m property, found a forged signature on one of the documents in possession of the bank that issued him a home loan.
He told TimesLIVE Premium that he went to the Midrand police station to lodge a fraud case after also finding one of the bank documents for the property had a forged signature.
He said his gas connection certificate had a fraudulent signature purported to be his, while his roof certificate had been submitted without a signature.
“I merely wanted to sort out the issue of my building, but this seems to be very big,” Mutlaneng said.
Mutlaneng's home had defects that included the shower flooding and water flowing through the sliding door as the outside flooring was not levelled correctly. There were cracks on the walls as well.
He said though he was fighting for what was right, he did not feel very safe.
When TimesLIVE Premium broke the story of what seemed like fraudulent occupation certificates that it had seen in April, Madibeng spokesperson Tumelo Tshabalala said they would be launching an investigation.
Tshabalala said at the time: “The issues [raised at Everglades] are taken in a serious light. An investigation will be conducted and on conclusion a response shall be provided.”
On Thursday, Tshabalala said their investigation found no wrongdoing on Madibeng's part regarding the issuing of occupancy certificates.
“However, the problem with the said buildings is poor workmanship of which is the responsibility of the developer, the appointed engineers by the home owners/ developer as well as the NHBRC because quality control during construction is their responsibility,” Tshabalala said.
He said Madibeng would “firstly consider various certificates issued by various professionals appointed by the home owners or the developer such as electrical certificates (COC), plumbing certificates, engineering completion certificates, gas installation certificates, glazing certificates.”
“Once those certificates are supplied then the final inspection conducted by the municipal Building Inspectors and if all is in order then an occupational certificate can be issued to the home owner or the developer,” said Tshabalala.
The homes were built by Melo Construction, which is run by husband and wife Michael and Nicole de Melo, who denied any wrongdoing on the company’s part at the time.
On the issuing of occupancy certificates for their properties, Nicole said the certificates were issued by Madibeng municipality after their company provided it with the relevant certificates from competent experts.
“The municipality would do an inspection of the property and then issue the certificates. It is common cause that homeowners would discover latent defects after moving and living in their new property, hence the standard three-months latent defects and plumbing leaks warranty as prescribed by the NHBRC,” she said at the time.
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