Sunbird Village Board of Trustees in Elspark, Germiston is apparently using a bogus lawyer to terrorise homeowners there.
The bogus advocate in question is one Henriet De Ru, who is not registered with the Legal Practice Council (LPC) yet she is currently issuing threatening letters to Sunbird Village homeowners and presenting herself as an Advocate of the High Court.
As a result of De Ru’s actions, many Sunbird Village homeowners have lost their homes and are now heavily indebted as a result of legal bills imposed upon them at the behest of De Ru.
Tshwane Talks is in possession of a document wherein De Ru threatens one of the homeowners with severe action if they failed to comply with her instructions regarding financial payments.
Sunbird Village homeowners insist that De Ru is not lawfully entitled to act as a lawyer and that her fees, and those of other legal service providers, are being charged directly to the homeowners levy accounts without explanation.
Tshwane Talks is in possession of a letter from the Legal Practice Council which reveals that Henriet De Ru is not registered with it.
A case of fraudulent misrepresentation opened by homeowners against Henriet De Ru in June this year has been withdrwan by the Elsberg Police Station under what homeowners regard as controversial circumstances.
As a result the homeowners have appealed to the highest authorities in the ranks of the South African Police Service including Acting Minister Feroz Cachalia
According to the homeowners, the self-proclaimed, illegal trustees of the Sunbird Village Board of Trustees are refusing to vacate their positions despite evidence suggesting that the board is comprised of married couples and also includes tenants.
The residents insist that under the PMR 4 (1) of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011, only owners or their nominees may be members of the board of trustees and that tenants must be excluded from membership of the board.
“PMR 43 also prohibits more than one trustee from the same unit,” they said in reference to a husband and his wife being members of the board of trustees of the Sunbird Village at the same time.
“A lawful election of members of the board of trustees as per PMR 16 was never held, yet the present group of trustees is refusing to step down, and is actually blocking calls for a proper re-election process,” lamented the residents.
“A so-called trustee called Freddy has been involved in switching off electricity supplies and even removing circuit breakers to the houses of the home owners on instructions from Henriet De Ru,” said the residents.
The said Freddy, according to the residents, would then demand R250 as a reconnection fee from homeowners whose electricity supply has been switched off by him.
“This is extortion as well as illegal interference with essential services,” said the residents.
Another point of contention is that the trustees are using levy money to fund themselves while in the process refusing to provide bank statements as required in terms of *s35(1) STSMA.
Residents also allege that the trustees are appointing service providers that they are personally acquainted with for personal enrichment while people doing the actual work at Sunbird Village including gardeners, go unpaid.
“A combination of unlawful legal fees, hidden finances, refusal to account as well as direct physical intimidation has left homeowners of Sunbird Village facing debt, threats of foreclosure, homes without electricity and a loss of control over their own scheme,” said one resident.
The homeowners are baffled that service employees are being ill-treated and not paid on time despite levies being collected monthly.
Now regarding their plight, the homeowners have made the following emphatic statement:
“We are being ill-treated by people who are not lawful trustees; people who hide our money; employ their friends; cut off our electricity and use the threat of the law to keep us quiet, but we are saying this is our money and we are demanding it back under proper management.”
A Special General Meeting has been scheduled for 18 July 2026 to remove the current Sunbird Village Board of Trustees from their positions.
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