Estate agency slammed for ‘only whites’ rental ad

By Theolin Tembo | IOL |

Estate agency Dick and Sue Home Finders has come under fire for placing “ONLY whites please” on a rental ad.

The advert identifies the rental as a “3 Bedroom Townhouse available in La Montagne” going for R9 800.

It lists what else the Pretoria rental has on offer before bringing attention to the fact that the rental is available for whites only and no pets are allowed.

The originally listing, which included details of the estate agent, Eliza Scheun, was posted to Private Property where it was discovered, but was later removed by the property site which said it did not condone the phrasing.

Sihle Dlamlenze, who saw the post on Private Property, took to Facebook where she posted on Dick and Sue Home Finders page about the rental.

“Wow so Eliza Scheun is selling property to whites only. Must be nice being racist in in (sic) country, you just get away with a lot hey.”

Dick and Sue Home Finders responded by apologising to her, shifting the blame to the property owner. “We are only respecting the owner’s wishes. We are sorry if it comes across as racim (sic.) So please, don’t be angry at Eliza or our firm we hope you have a lovely day.”

Dlamlenze responded: “Ok I see you provide service to racist clients, clearly they are comfortable coming to you with such requests.”

There have since been numerous posts criticising the agency for its listing.

Kate Watts said: “You should be ashamed of yourselves! It’s blatant racism. Suggest you have a quick peek at this country’s constitution!”

“They are representing the client which means they are accepting this hateful rhetoric, sad really. I don’t necessarily think that makes the estate agents racists, just makes them ignorant and should be held accountable,” said Anton, @antondotnet on Twitter.

“We are so sorry for the inconvenience. We are rectifying the mistake,” one reply from Dick and Sue Home Finders reads.

“We are not racists at all, you can ask the agents at our office. We treat everyone with the same decency, no matter the skin colour, culture or rank.”

“We do not embrace racism in our agency either. We made an error and feel so bad about it. I just hope you guys can forgive us for making that terrible mistake. It won’t ever happen again.”