A 70-YEAR-OLD MAN has been accused of selling an RDP house and also violating provisions of the Housing Act.

Mosima Raselebana of Seshego claims the seller, Kenny Semono, sold her his RDP house for R300000.

According to Section 10 (a) and (b) of the Housing Act, occupants of state-subsidised houses are not allowed to sell or vacate their properties within eight years of their occupancy.

If they want to vacate the house they must offer it to the state first.

The recipients of the RDP houses can only receive their title deed after eight years of occupancy, and only then can they sell the houses if they so wish.

Raselebana discovered the ineligibility of her deal with Semono when the latter failed to give her a title deed. She needed the document to effect the change of ownership through her attorneys.

She said Semono also tried to resell the house to two other people after she raised her concerns.

The 56-year-old single mother of three said she resigned from her employment as a nurse so she can buy a house for her three children.

Raselebana said she was not able to get a bond and was also not eligible for an RDP house. This, she said, left her with no option but to resign from her work.

Her mother then told her about Semono, whom she recommended as an estate agent who had a house on sale. She trusted her mother and went on to buy the house without even seeing it.

She was only shown a picture of a three-bedroomed house Semono claimed he was selling. Little did she know she would be throwing her money down the drain, she said.

Semono is not even registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board, Raselebana said.

"Buying a house without viewing it was the dumbest thing I have ever done," Raselabana said.

She said she signed an offer to purchase and later transferred the full amount of R300 000 to him.

"I thereafter made attempts to view the house without success as Semono always told me the occupants were not available, when he was the occupant."

Raselabana said as a first-time home buyer she did not know that the purchase amount must be deposited into the trust account of the transferring attorney.

She said a few months after receiving her money Semono went to her mother's house to drop the house keys without telling her.

"I was shocked when I discovered that he sold me an RDP house," she said.

When she tried to reverse the deal Semono offered to renovate it but all his promises were not kept as he started avoiding her.

Raselebana has since moved into the RDP house.

"To this day, Semono doesn't want to return my money or give me the house documents so that it can be registered in my name," she said .

Semono, who introduced himself as a priest but refused to disclose the name of his church, told Consumer Line that Raselebana was confused.

"That woman wants to dent my career as a priest. She has been to Speak-out (a consumer TV programme) and several attorneys who could see her case is not valid," Semono said.

He confirmed that he tried to sell the house to other prospective buyers in a bid to pay her back, but that Raselebana was hampering his efforts by not cooperating and refusing to pay for services.

"Each time I bring new buyers she insults me and does not want them to view the house. She now makes me choose the devil. How can I help someone who keeps on insulting me when I try to help?"

Semono insisted he could sell the house to anyone as the house is still registered in his name.

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