A Mpumalanga man who sold his land for R1.1 million has been ordered to transfer ownership after he changed his mind about the sale and claimed he had to consult his wife.

In May 2022, Sonja Gouws offered to buy 36 hectares of land from Bosodi Petrus Thobejane.

In July 2022, Gouws made a payment of R800,000 into Thobejane’s attorney’s account.

Thobejane allowed Gouws and her husband to occupy and renovate the vacant property, which had one habitable structure.

When they moved in, they repaired the stolen electrical and plumbing systems, installed a water tank and septic tank, built an additional flat, and rebuilt the vandalised pigsty.

In February 2023, the Gouws asked for an extension regarding the outstanding payment due to financial constraints. She was given until the end of May 2023, but she managed to pay the outstanding R300,000 days before the cut-off date.

Thobejane was informed that the payment had been made, but he failed to provide his attorney with the necessary documents to register the property in Gouw’s name.

In July, he told Gouw’s attorney that he was no longer willing to proceed with the sale, stating he needed to consult his wife first.

During a meeting attended by both parties and their attorneys, it was revealed that Thobejane wanted more money for the property.

Seeing that Thobejane had expressed his refusal to proceed with the registration of the property in her name, despite payment of the full purchase price, Gouws sought relief in the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela.

In response, Thobejane said the property forms part of a joint estate with his wife, who ought to have been joined in the proceedings.

He said he communicated with the conveyancer his intention to cancel the agreement with Gouws after she failed to fulfil the terms of the agreement, despite having been granted an extension on two occasions.

Looking at the evidence, acting judge S Msibi said Thobejane never indicated during the agreement of the sale that he was married.

“The respondent (Thobejane) indicated that he was single by ticking in the appropriate box. The second paragraph that made provision for a spouse’s details was crossed out, in line with the selection of his marital status,” said judge Msibi.

Msibi noted both parties were legally represented, and Thobejane never disclosed he was married in community of property or that his wife’s consent was needed during the sale agreement signing.

“He presented himself as being unmarried. After making the allegation, he was requested to produce proof of his marital status, but the respondent still failed to support his claim. He could not produce a marriage certificate, a lobola letter or a confirmatory affidavit from his alleged wife. His founding affidavit lacked particularity in this regard.

“…There is no evidence tendered by the respondent to dispute the applicant’s averments pertaining to his marital status. His alleged spouse’s names were not even averred or put on record during the application,” said the judge.

In addition, Judge Msibi said Thobejane gave Gouws permission to move into the property based on their agreement of sale.

“The applicant effected improvements in the property, and this will result in prejudice should the court order payment of damages, keeping in mind that the respondent never tendered to refund the applicant the funds that she paid,” added the judge.

Judge Msibi stated that Thobejane could not use marriage as a defense because there was no verifiable evidence of his marital status or the identity of a spouse.

“From the evidence before me, there is nothing that suggests that he was married at the time he entered into the agreement with the applicant. Even if it were to be found that he is married, the land sale agreement is, in terms of section 15(9)(a) of the Matrimonial Property Act, valid and legally enforceable,” said the judge.

Thobejane was ordered to sign all necessary documents for the transfer of the property into Gouw’s name. He was given 14 days to complete this.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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