It took all of seven minutes for one of Gqeberha’s most luxurious properties — the former home and business of Philip and Yvette Georgiou — to be snapped up for R6.37m.
The Georgiou Spa and Hotel and two adjoining properties, at 250, 250A and 252 Kragga Kamma Road, are listed on the municipal property register with values of R2.35m, R4.7m and R3.2m, respectively.
As the three adjoining properties measuring more than 9,000m² went under the hammer on Wednesday, 23 online bids were made in quick succession.
The virtual auction kicked off with much excitement shortly after 11am.
Opening bids started at R4.5m and were auctioned off in two lots, each including all the properties which consist of residential houses, large grounds, function venues, tennis courts, a borehole, swimming pools and manicured gardens.
The first lot, which reached R6.16m by 11.18am, was subject to leases for two properties continuing after confirmation of the bidder’s financial standing, while the second lot, subject to the leases being cancelled upon transfer of the properties to the new owner, was snapped up within two minutes at R6.37m.
The properties were put up for public auction after Yvette’s personal estate was declared insolvent by the high court in Gqeberha in 2021.
During the auction, WH Auctions chief executive Daniel Pelkowitz, said the highest bid would take preference, meaning the second lot with the higher amount was accepted and was subject to no lease agreements.
A total of 23 bids were placed during the auction of lot one and only three during the auction of lot two.
In August, acting judge Avinash Govindjee ordered that Yvette be sequestrated after she fell short of paying off her loans and sureties.
In court papers, it was revealed that between 2015 and 2019, Yvette had entered various home loan agreements with Grobank, previously the South African Bank of Athens, where different sums of money were loaned and advanced to her.
It emerged in the court papers that she owed R16,703,882.19 in home loan agreements, R6,265,966.74 in lease and instalment sale agreements through suretyships in respect of the River Street Trust, R9,585,633.27 in home loan agreements through suretyships in respect of the trust, and R3,320,396.88 in suretyships in relation to Art Holdings (Pty) Ltd.
The estate was declared insolvent after Grobank submitted to the court that the market value of her assets were in the region of R25m, while her liabilities were in excess of R14m over and above the R25m.
The R6.37m bid for the three properties fell far short of the more than R35m owed by Yvette. .
Her husband, Philip, made headlines in February 2020 when the sheriff of the court attached several items from his second-hand car dealership after attorney Anel Botha took him to court for failing to cough up the R180,000 for which he had sold her Audi TT a year earlier.
According to court documents, Philip failed to pay the costs ordered by the court, resulting in the sheriff attaching R205,920 worth of goods.
In December 2019, at least 20 vehicles were removed from the dealership and returned to Absa Bank.
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