A dispute between property mogul Sayed Jamali (Universal Builders Botswana [PTY) Ltd) and ND Estates (PTY) Ltd represented by Daisy Molefhi has been remitted to the High Court.
The dispute between the two emanates from the sale agreement of Plot 323 in Mogoditshane at the value of P9million which was entered into in November 2012.
ND Estates had intended to purchase the plot from Universal Builders but later decided not to after suspected misrepresentations of information by the seller.
The property agents then approached the High Court to seek cancellation of memorandum of sale; payment of P9million being the purchase price of the property; compensation for all necessary and useful developments; payment of all costs incidental to the sale, purchase and transfer of the property. They also demanded 10% interest per annum calculated from the date of summons to the date of full and final payment.
Part of the sale agreement was that the Purchaser acknowledges that it has itself fully acquainted with the property, its nature, boundaries and locality and with all terms and conditions in the deed.
It was agreed that the Purchaser shall furnish the Seller with a letter of undertaking from local financial institutions guaranteeing payment of the balance of the purchase price on the terms acceptable to the Seller, to enable payment to be within 60 days of the signing of the agreement.
The Seller assured the Purchaser that it is the owner of the piece of land and is entitled to sell and dispose it, or alternatively that the seller is a duly authorised representative of the owner.
However, sometime in 2018, a company known as Flora Paints (PTY) Ltd approached DN Estates seeking to enforce a court order it obtained in 2012, in respect of Universal Builders Botswana, which declared that the plot was encroaching on its property and that the encroachment had to be removed.
It was at this point that Molefhi contended that Jamali had failed to disclose that the property being sold was encroaching on an adjacent property and that a court order had been issued against him to remove such encroachment.
“Jamali entered an Appearance to defend on the 30th June 2012 arguing that the claim was based on an agreement concluded on November 29th, 2012, and as such the action was instituted more than six years from the date of the agreement and it had prescribed, ” read court papers.
However Molefhi argued that the claim had not prescribed stating that although they entered into the agreement on 29th November 2012, prescription only started running when she discovered that Jamali had presented fraudulent information with respect to the size of Plot323.
She further argued that prescription only started when Flora Paints (Pty) Ltd demanded removal of encroachment from its property. She said Jamali as the sole Director of Universal Builders was fully aware of the circumstances around the size of the plot but failed to disclose such full information to make the purchaser aware of the actual size of the plot.
The matter was referred back to the High Court for further arguments on whether Molefhi’s complaint had been overtaken by time when she launched the lawsuit.
