Homeless actor Zolisa Xaluva in trouble after ‘hijacking’ dead white man’s house

Actor won’t move despite owing rent

Award-winning actor Zolisa Xaluva has allegedly illegally occupied a dead man’s Joburg posh house and is preventing his family from taking occupation.

It seems the traits of his character, the elusive troublemaker, Diamond, in popular TV show The Queen have permeated his real life, according to the family of his deceased landlord, William Alan Nasimith.

The family has reported the matter to the local community policing forum and has also applied for a court order to evict the flamboyant actor from Nasimith’s pad in Willowbrook Estate, Roodepoort.

The startling details are contained in the application submitted at the Joburg High Court for a court order to evict Xaluva by Nico Andrew Theo Botha and Elizabeth Anne Gurovich, who are the executors of the deceased’s estate.

According to the application, seen by Sunday World, Xaluva signed a lease agreement with Jon Rosenberg Estates on June 1 2018 to rent the property from the deceased’s family. Xaluva was expected to pay R9 500 excluding refuse, sewer, water and electricity.

When the lease agreement ended on May 31 last year, the family refused to renew it because Xaluva, who has just joined the new Mzansi Magic show Gomora, had defaulted on his rent and was over R75 000 in arrears. Instead of vacating the property, Xaluva continued to live there without paying.

“The first respondent continuously and throughout the subsistence of the lease agreement failed to effect the payment of monthly rental and ancillary charges due and owing by him in terms of the lease agreement, as and when such amounts became due and owing.

“Upon the termination of the lease agreement on 31 May 2019, the first respondent failed, neglected and or refused to vacate the property in accordance with the notice to vacate issued to him. The first respondent continued to occupy the property such that the lease agreement continued to operate on month-to-month basis subject to the same terms and conditions,” reads the application.

The family lawyers wrote Xaluva a letter on October 11 last year asking him to settle over R75 000 in arrears if he wanted to continue living in the house. The month-tomonth lease agreement was cancelled on October 28 and Xaluva was served with a notice by hand to vacate the property but, again, he refused.

The executors said Xaluva’s refusal to vacate the property financially disadvantaged Naismith’s beneficiaries who depended on the property’s rental income for survival. They also said the beneficiaries are also forced to rent accommodation elsewhere while Xaluva continued to stay there for gratis.

“Due to the continued unlawful occupation of the property by the first respondent, the beneficiaries of the deceased estate are unable to take occupation of the property and are forced to incur expenses in renting accommodation elsewhere.”

Rosenberg also wrote Xaluva a letter in April telling him to vacate the property, but he refused. Responding to Rosenberg, Xaluva wrote in an e-mail, seen by Sunday World: “The owners are ill-informed Jon, they are probably of the opinion you are doing a great Job. I’m not leaving. If the owners wish to engage me, I urge them to contact me or come over and see if they would continue to pay for such living conditions.”

The family lawyer Claire Laurent of SSC Attorneys said the matter was supposed to have been heard on February 3 but was postponed indefinitely as Xaluva couldn’t be served with papers.

“He is evading services,” she said.

-Sundayworld