Land judgement postponed

 

Judgment in the fraud case of Musziwamandla Poto and his wife Elizabeth Masinya was postponed by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Friday.

 

The court heard the judgment was lengthy and Magistrate Theunis Carstens was not well. Judgment was postponed to September 20. The couple face multiple fraud charges relating to illegal land sales.

 

They and five others have appeared in different courts for allegedly selling stands for between R15,000 and R50,000. The buyers were allegedly given forged deeds of sale with the Gauteng housing department's logo.

 

The couple allegedly told Lenasia residents that Masinya worked for the provincial housing department and that Poto acted as an agent to secure land for a fee. They have denied this.

 

They claimed they were charging money for the "service" of investigating who the plots belonged to. In November, the Gauteng housing department demolished about 50 houses in Lenasia.

 

The department said it was acting within the law because the houses were illegally built on government land. Following the demolitions, Lenasia residents held several protests and blocked roads leading into Lenasia with rocks and burning tyres.

 

Further demolitions were halted following a ruling by the High Court in Johannesburg. The SA Human Rights Commission called for the demolitions to be stopped so it could investigate whether any human rights were being infringed.

 

- Sapa