The estate agent who was accused embezzling a homeowner's money has kept his promise to pay back the money.

The estate agent who was accused embezzling a homeowner's money has kept his promise to pay back the money.

Nhlanganiso Sibanda of Prime Properties, who had contravened the rules of his profession, refunded Siphamandla Zulu his R62000 last week.

This was the refund for the house he failed to register into the name of the new buyer.

Early this month Consumer Line reported that Zulu bought a house for his mother through estate agent Sibanda in 2005, which he failed to transfer to the new owner.

This amount included the estate agent's R17000 commission, he said.

Since the house was still in the name of the seller, Zulu's mother has also not been able to pay the rates and taxes for the past two years, he said.

The original owner of the house, Edith Ntombela, who now lives in a shack at Shuping informal settlement, believes she was misled by the estate agent.

Ntombela said that she and her husband decided to let their house, but they later decided to sell it and move far away from her "interfering in-laws".

But before Sibanda could find a buyer for their house her husband died, said Ntombela.

"Sibanda later sold my house for R45000 and he accepted payment for it, plus his commission," Ntombela said.

Ntombela said that before the deal went through, she found out that she owed the Johannesburg Metro Council money for water and electricity and that if she went ahead with the sale, she would be left with almost no money and no home.

This meant he would pay the outstanding amount of R33000 for the water and electricity and give Ntombela the paltry balance.

Since this was not their agreement Ntombela declined to proceed with the sale, she said.

However, Ntombela is now happy for Zulu and said that she will still sell her house to the Zulu family.