South africa's priciest home sells

Modelled on Pretoria's Union buildings, a property on Sandhurst Estate, Johannesburg, is South Africa's most expensive home and has just sold at auction for £4 million...

According to the Alliance Group, the house, which belonged to Africa's first telecommunications mogul, the late Rwandan billionaire Miko Rwayitare, was sold last week.

It has terraced gardens and gatehouses to match Pretoria's Union Buildings, (pictured) which are built in English monumental style and are the official seat of the South African Government in Gauteng.  

For many South Africans the Union Building is the most beautiful Government residence in the world.

Architect Sir Herbert Baker designed the 275 metre long building and had it built in light sandstone. The two wings at the sides represent the Boerish and the English part of the South African population.

The Union building's name comes from the time of the South African Union, which was only changed in 1961 to the current name, the Republic of South Africa.

Since the first free and common elections in South Africa in 1994 the Union Building has been the residence of the presidency. Parliament spends the winter months in Pretoria, and the summer months in Cape Town. 

The doppelganger Sandhurst Estate home has been sold for a mere £26,818 at a sale in execution conducted by the sheriff of the court in August last year to the mansion's Architect, Greg Pietersen, after he purchased the property to recover his unpaid professional fees.

However, Pietersen's acquisition included the company that owned the mansion, Propro Investments, which included Investec Bank's £4.4 million outstanding finance.

Since the bond was never paid, the property was put up for auction and the no-reserve sale in execution was a culmination of the bank's legal foreclosure.

Tony Sanchez, Investec's Lawyer, said, "The sale arose because no one was paying the bond."

Rael Levitt, CEO at Alliance Group, says the auction attracted local and international bidders.

"Despite the palpable downturn in the residential property market, this is an iconic property and for many of our buyers they realised that a no-reserve sale of arguably South Africa's highest value house was a once in a lifetime opportunity, said Mr Levitt. 

"Since Mr Rwayitare's widow moved out, the estate has been looking a little tired and neglected," he added.

Picture by Jack Versloot