Mystery around Mmusi Maimane and 'his' R3.85m Claremont house

[TysonRoux]

Mystery around Mmusi Maimane and 'his' R3.85m Claremont house - report

DA leader Mmusi Maimane listed a house worth almost R4m as one of his assets on the parliamentary registery – but it turns out he does not own the home in Claremont‚ Cape Town‚ according to Rapport newspaper.

www.sowetanlive.co.za

DA leader Mmusi Maimane listed a house worth almost R4m as one of his assets on the parliamentary registery – but it turns out he does not own the home in Claremont‚ Cape Town‚ according to Rapport newspaper.

After the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper confronted him about this‚ Maimane made an about-turn‚ saying he was actually renting the home from an old friend.

The newspaper said it came across several inconsistencies when it started investigating Maimane's home ownership.

In September 2018‚ Maimane declared to parliament that a home in Claremont and a home in Roodepoort both belong to him. But‚ according to records at the deeds office‚ only the Roodepoort home is registered in his and his wife's names.

The real owner of the Claremont home is a shelf company‚ of which Durban businessman Wessel Jacobs is the only director and shareholder. Jacobs confirmed this to Rapport. He bought the house in September 2017 for R3.85m.

Maimane told Rapport he was paying "market-related rent" but would not say how much. Asked the same question‚ Jacobs said although he believed in transparent‚ fact-based and fair journalism‚ he could not divulge confidential information.

Jacobs is the owner of Jacobs Capital‚ a private investment company in Durban.

Asked to clarify why Maimane initially listed the house as his own property‚ his spokesperson Azola Mboniswa said a response would be forthcoming around 2pm. But when contacted again at that time‚ he referred the reporter to another spokesperson‚ who initially did not answer calls‚ and then promised to respond after 3pm.

This article will be updated with his comment once received.

 

[TysonRoux]

Has he learnt the ANC tricks?

 

[Enzo Matrix]

Let me take a guess

A DA tender of some sort to the owner who then lets him stay in a mansion at "market related" rent

Cnts in power are all the same

 

[MidnightWizard]

An object lesson in how to destroy a once vibrant and hopeful political party
Look no further than Mdme ZILLE -- who has now deserted the sinking ship -- AFTER -- scuttling it !

 

[Gordon_R]

IMO this is a non-story, peddled by the same kind of news media who promoted the Zupta smears, and the PP's attack on the CR17 campaign.

I live close to the area, and can assure you that no house worth R3.85m in Claremont can come anywhere close to being a mansion.

A quick google search will show the kind of property in this price range: https://www.property24.com/for-sale/claremont/cape-town/western-cape/11741

 

[saturnz]

I would guess rent would be anywhere between 25-35k, if market related

 

[ponder]

I would guess rent would be anywhere between 25-35k, if market related

You can rent a 4bed 2bath house for 15k in claremont.

 

[saturnz]

You can rent a 4bed 2bath house for 15k in claremont.

you can, but you can also get 25-35k

and 15k rental on a 4m property is suspicious within this context

 

[Zoomzoom]

Rent will NOT be market related. Why else would he even mention it? The guilty always make a point about the thing they are trying to hide when not asked.

 

[ponder]

you can, but you can also get 25-35k

and 15k rental on a 4m property is suspicious within this context

I just had a quick look online, did not see many over 20k and the 15k one was pretty nice.

 

[ponder]

Rent will NOT be market related.

Do you know how much the rent is? Else its just speculation.

 

[saturnz]

I just had a quick look online, did not see many over 20k and the 15k one was pretty nice.

my property is worth 1.8m and I charge 15k rental

 

[TysonRoux]

Business is business, and businessmen don't give away freebees, so either he's paying a market related rent or there's some other behind the scenes deal going on, ....... but if paying a market related rent, I'd expect he'd be transparent about it to boost his clean image, but why would he list it as one of his assets?

 

[ponder]

my property is worth 1.8m and I charge 15k rental

Nice.

 

[saturnz]

Nice.

thats market related...

 

[3WA]

Don’t MPs get accommodation in Cape Town as a perk? So is it common for them to also rent houses there or he’s just pissing away a few grand a month in rent?

 

[Zoomzoom]

Do you know how much the rent is? Else its just speculation.

Because he wasn't asked about the rent. He was asked about whether or not he owned the house. So he replies with an extraneous 'fact' no-one asked him about.

Do you own the house?

No, I'm renting it. But the rent is market related!

Dude no-one asked, so why mention it? The fact that it was thrown out there makes it questionable. Either it is not market related or it is market related and he threw the fact in to hide something else. Either way, it's a red flag.

 

[genetic]

Because he wasn't asked about the rent. He was asked about whether or not he owned the house. So he replies with an extraneous 'fact' no-one asked him about.

Do you own the house?

No, I'm renting it. But the rent is market related!

Dude no-one asked, so why mention it? The fact that it was thrown out there makes it questionable. Either it is not market related or it is market related and he threw the fact in to hide something else. Either way, it's a red flag.

Anything DA related and Zoomzoom is like a fly to sh*t.

 

[lumeer]

I suspect that this is nothing but a misunderstanding being blown out of proportion. Maimane or one of his assistants perhaps simply listed all his places of residence, not specifically properties that are owned by him. Now if it were the other way around - that Maimane had failed to disclose ownership of a property - there might have been a story. And so what that he's renting it from a businessman? He has to rent it from someone, duh.

 

[ponder]

thats market related...

I mean nice as in you should get as much out of it as you can. I know people charging 80k+ a month in a different area, but they target diplomatic staff and they pay it with a smile.