Tshwane mayoral mansion sold away
“House of corruption” fetches R5.1m, enough for 40 RDPs
The official Tshwane mayoral mansion was auctioned for R5.1-million in Hyde Park‚ Johannesburg, yesterday.
Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga‚ who was present at the auction‚ said the funds would be used to build a minimum of 40 low-cost houses.
In his bid speech the mayor had pleaded with buyers to take the sale up to R8-million. However‚ the final price was still much higher than the average estimated value on Muckleneuk, which was R2.5million‚ according to Property24’s trends record.
“I was hoping for more, but we did say that the house is valued at R5-million. We sort of knew that would be the bold figure we would get out of it. But I’m glad that we can now start putting what we promised to the people of Tshwane into motion‚ which is to build houses for the less fortunate‚” said Msimanga.
Msimanga said his successors would have to stay in their own houses and not enjoy the luxury of a mayoral house.
“We are here to serve the people, we should do that from our own homes.”
The previous mayor reportedly spent R12-million renovating the house, leading to Msimanga labelling it “the house of corruption”.
Despite the renovations‚ the valuators still uncovered defects.
In September, the Tshwane council voted to sell the mansion and use the proceeds to provide basic municipal services.
The mansion is a single residential dwelling with five bedrooms‚ several bathrooms‚ entrance foyer‚ dining room‚ lounge‚ TV room‚ family room‚ scullery‚ pantry and a fully fitted kitchen with built-in cupboards throughout.
It also has a generator. There is a study on the ground floor and two outside staff rooms. –