Absa Loses Court Bid to Kick Orange Farm Couple Out of Home, Family Given Chance to Pay Off Home Loan Debt

• An Orange Farm couple's home has been saved by a judgement from the Johannesburg High Court
• Absa was trying to move forward with a nine-year-old judgement to sell Eric and Beatrice Gontsana's house after they defaulted on their home loan
• The judge threw out the judgement and ordered the bank to allow the couple to pay off the loan

JOHANNESBURG - The Johannesburg High Court has handed an Orange Farm couple a much-needed lifeline.

The court rejected Absa's application to go forward with a nine-year-old judgement to put Eric and Beatrice Gontsana's house on the market because they had fallen behind on paying their loan.

The Gontsana's mortgaged their property in 2007 for R65 000. The couple were meant to pay monthly instalments of R548, but by 2013, the pair had fallen behind on payments and owed the bank R7 935.

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Absa targets the Gontsanas, wants loan paid in full and Orange Farm property sold

In November 2013, Absa approached the court to have the home loan paid in full in addition to securing the right to sell the property. The court granted a judgement for R60 397 plus interest and cost and made an order declaring the property specially executable.

According to TimesLIVE, the court also suspended the order for three months to allow the family to bring their payments up to date.

Absa lets the judgement sit for nearly a decade

Almost 10 years passed and Absa never acted on the judgement. In that time, the Gontsanas made concerted efforts to pay off the loan and by 2022 had paid Absa just over R55 000.

In making his judgement, Judge Stuart Wilson questioned why Absa had waited so long to act on the order granted in 2013 and why the bank applied the couple's payments to the loan and not the judgement debt.

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On Monday, 6 February, Judge Wilson suspended the November 2013 order and directed Absa to allow the Gontsanas to pay back what remained on the loan. The couple were also given a month to set up a payment plan, SowetanLIVE reported.

South Africans slam Absa for trying to take the couple's Orange Farm home away

South Africans weren't impressed that Absa tried to take the couple's home and slammed the bank for being cruel.

Here are some comments:

Anna-may De Jesus advised:

"More people should follow this route."

Mikel Mogale Mike Makgahlela said:

"A cruel bank."

Lucky Luvuno criticised:

"ABSA is a cursed bank."

Moreshka Lebona claimed:

"When it comes to home and vehicle repossessions ABSA doesn't play around, they are very aggressive."

T Piper Piper slammed:

"Banks are certified crooks, they prey on the poorest. They have no mercy or compassion."

Man building his mansion proudly shares progress and has Mzansi absolutely floored

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In another story, Briefly News reported a man was building his house step-by-step and the internet fell in love. The man is more than 90% finished making his dream home and people cannot stop raving about it.

The home has been under construction since March and has shaped up extremely well. People commented on the man's soon-to-be-completed house.

A Twitter user @dr_zolani shared information showing that he is close to finishing his dream home. He captioned the photo with a progress report on how far he is.

Source: Briefly News