Property24 slammed for unacceptable ad

Home to be rented to ‘Muslim people only’ according to listing

PROPERTY24 has come under fire after a discriminatory listing was added on their site.

An advert for a home up for rent in Rondebosch East stated that “Muslim people only” needed to apply.

The three bedroom; one bath home is available for rent of R15 000 per month.

The home was advertised under Adriaans Property Group and estate agent, Farahnaaz Ely-Sait said she was instructed by the homeowner to mention the property was available to “Muslim people only”.

“That is what he told me to do. He didn’t say why.”

She said it was very common for her to get requests from homeowners to mention conditions like that on their adverts.

Ely-Sait added that Property24 later asked her to remove the “Muslim people only” requirement.

Property24 general manager Charles Scott said agencies are requested to immediately remove the listing, failing which, it is blocked from our end.

Failing to do so would result in their account with Property24 being closed.

“Our dedicated moderation team endeavour to spot these types of listings but it is not feasible to moderate all listings prior to these going live on site.”

Scott said every indication was that posts like these were very uncommon.

“There is a Report Listings button on every one of the property listings, where consumers and or other agencies are encouraged to report the listing and comment on why they’re reporting it. This report goes to our moderation team that take appropriate action depending on the offence reported.”

South African Human Rights Commission’s Chris Nissen said that while the constitution protected religious and cultural practices, discrimination was not acceptable.

“It’s like this thing with private properties, like malls, if a homeless person goes there they may be looked down on or kicked out. We need to respect people’s dignity all the time and dignity is not something that can be disguised because you are on private property.”

He added that they have heard of cases where people wanting to rent property were not able to get a place because of their accent.

“You find if a person calls in one accent they will not get it, but will get the rental stock if they change their accent. It is unacceptable.”

WE NEED TO RESPECT PEOPLE’S DIGNITY AND DIGNITY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DISGUISED