I am innocent – estate agent on 'only white' property listing
Johannesburg – The estate agent who has become the focus of outrage caused by an offensive property listing claims she had nothing to with it.
A rental listing appeared on the Private Property website on Tuesday morning specifying that "only whites" may apply. Elize Scheun was listed as the estate agent to contact.
"I am extremely upset, I don't even do rentals," Scheun told News24.
"I am innocent and now all of this hate is being thrown my way."
Joleen Stapelberg from Dick and Sue Home Finders, under which the listing was posted on Private Property, believes that the company might have been sabotaged.
"Our rentals aren't even done by her [Scheun]. Our rentals are done by a black man," Stapelberg said.
"We aren't like this...our staff is black and most of our clientele is black."
Flood of threats
Stapelberg said an internal investigation was underway to establish where the listing originated from.
"We will be talking to our lawyers tomorrow and we will definitely take action against anyone found guilty," she said.
Private Property spokesperson Barrie Knox-Davies said companies using the service had full control over the listings they posted onto the website.
"We only intervene [or] take adverts down if they go against our terms and conditions," Knox-Davies said.
"Whether it was a software problem or sabotage, they are ultimately responsible for the listing and no one else can post on their behalf," he said.
Meanwhile Scheun said she has received a flood of threats.
"I have received a considerable amount of threats with rude language use, threats and phone calls," she said.
However, she says, she is not afraid as she has nothing to feel guilty about.
"I will reveal the content of the threats once our internal investigation has been completed on Friday," she said.
