The forced sale of Prince Mmelizwe Dlamini’s home collapsed, making a royal spectacle of his double-storey La Lucia home.
|||The forced sale at public auction of would-be-king Prince Mmelizwe Dlamini’s home collapsed last week and the double-storey La Lucia house will have to be put back on the market.
Documents reflect that the man who bought the property for R3.2 million at the sale at the Inanda sheriff’s offices in Verulam six weeks ago was HM Voladia “on behalf of the Hariparsad Family Trust”.
Voladia is well-known at auction sales and regularly acts as an agent for others. The Mercury has been unable to establish the identity of those behind the trust.
However, a source at last month’s auction alleged the house was being bought for Dlamini and he would remain living there.
On Sunday when The Mercury contacted Voladia he said there had been a mistake – “a problem with one of the guarantees” – and he was sorting it out.
However, Voladia and the trust have already been granted one indulgence and are unlikely to be granted any more.
The initial deadline for the full purchase price to be paid was earlier this month.
Andrew Donnelly, the lawyer for Nedbank which took judgment against Dlamini, confirmed then that the deadline for the balance of the purchase price to be paid to the sheriff had expired.
“We have requested the sheriff to cancel the sale and allocate a new sale date. Further, we have requested that the sheriff pay to us the deposit, less his charges,” Donnolly said.
Later that day Donnolly confirmed that the deadline had been extended.
But on Sunday he told The Mercury: “The sheriff has not received any guarantees, nor has he heard from the purchaser. The property will be up for sale again in due course.”
Whatever happens at the future auction, Dlamini will still have some months’ breathing space because he will not have to move out until the house is legally transferred into the new owner’s name.
Nedbank claimed in court papers that he had not kept up with his R30 000-a-month bond instalment and owed more than R3 million.
The auction went ahead in spite of his lawyer Rajesh Sunker claiming he was negotiating to prevent the sale.
Dlamini – who claims he is the leader of the Nhlangwini kingdom, near Highflats, and wants to be given the same status as Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini – has pleaded his case before the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims and is awaiting its decision.
The Mercury previously reported that while the sale of the Ellison Drive property was well-advertised, potential buyers were barred from viewing the property and an employee of a local auctioneer who tried to take marketing photographs was kicked out by Dlamini’s bodyguards.
His car was also kept locked up in the grounds of the house and he had to return with the police to get it back. - The Mercury