Agent hid who the house owner was

Mansion belongs to the Guptas

A woman who is “leasing” a Bedfordview‚ east of Johannesburg, home linked to the controversial Gupta family said the estate agent did not tell her who the house belonged to.

The house on the corner of Kings and Van Buuren roads was one of the properties the Hawks raided yesterday.

The house is reportedly owned by Ashok Narayan‚ a Gupta lieutenant and former managing director of Sahara Systems‚ a Gupta-owned company.

On the property is a peachcoloured four-bedroom house with a swimming pool and a servants’ quarters. An old BMW 230 belonging to the previous owner is left on the spacious property. The lawn is slightly unkept.

Sowetan’s sister publication TimesLIVE visited the house and spoke to the woman who lives there with her two grandsons. She refused to be named.

The woman said the Hawks came to her home with rifles in the early hours of the morning.

“They said they are looking for the Guptas. I told them we started living in this house last year. When I moved in we were only dealing with an estate agent and I showed them the papers‚” the woman said.

According to her‚ she only found out about the Gupta link to the house after she reported to the agent that there were some problems with the house.

“Then Indians came [to the house]. Out of curiosity I asked where their offices are. These guys said‚ ‘Sahara’. I made the connection. Then I asked them if they meant the house belonged to the Guptas.

“Wow‚ how of all the houses would I end up in this controversy? But at that time it wasn’t as bad as it is now. So I let it ride‚” she said.

She said that after an electricity glitch in the house‚ Ekurhuleni municipality officials came to make repairs.

Their billing information stated that the house belonged to the Guptas.

The woman indicated that there was nothing suspicious on her lease‚ which is valid from June 6 last year to June this year. She showed TimesLIVE the lease agreement.

“I want to find out from the [estate] agents why they were hiding who owned the house. They should have told me from the word go so I can make a decision with all the information‚ not partial.

“Now all eyes are on me. I mean‚ Bedfordview has its own dynamics. You are the only black person on the street and all of a sudden there are Hawks‚ not just police‚ at your door. Then the police next door drove into my yard and started asking‚ ‘Who are you? What’s going on?” she said.

She repeatedly clarified that she had no connection to the Guptas.

“I know I did nothing wrong‚ but it’s awkward. The perception is that you are connected to the Guptas. People are drawing conclusions‚” she said.