EAST LONDON -- Property belonging to one of the city's best known charity workers, award-winning hairdresser Nelson Restom, is to be sold by the sheriff to recover outstanding rental arrears.
Restom, who has collected hundreds of thousands of rand for the St Bernard's Hospice and East London Children's Home, was earlier served a summons from Grafler Investments (GI), the company which owns the King's Entertainment Centre on the beachfront.
A notice of sale of execution on Thursday stated that various pieces of furniture, electrical appliances and hairdressing equipment are to be sold in January. The notice followed an order by the magistrate's court here.
GI's Kevin Farr said yesterday that Restom, who has rented premises in the building next door to the Virgin Active gym for about five years, had moved to a building in Vincent.
Farr confirmed that action had been taken against Restom for rental arrears. In a letter to GI director Willie Gauss dated April 9, Restom appealed to Grafler's board to write off the amount for which it was holding him responsible.
"While I realise it is your legal right to charge interest, I consider it rather harsh in the circumstances of which you are all aware -- especially the crippling rate of prime plus 2 percent," Restom wrote.
He said his earlier appeal in 1996 for a rental reduction had been bluntly refused, despite an overall loss of R60000 during the first 18 months of being a tenant in the centre.
Apart from the health club, Nelson Restom for Hair was the only tenant that had stayed since the building's opening.
Restom said he had made an effort to "enhance the premises and upgrade the standard of a deteriorating centre".
In a final appeal, Restom wrote: "While it is no secret that I am still paying my creditors, the cost of establishing the new business, plus the fact that the Receiver (of Revenue) is waiting in the wings, all others including my own basic living expenses and domestic commitments, have had to wait their turn."
In earlier letters to Farr and Gauss dating back to the beginning of last year, Restom also mentioned items which he had to replace at a cost of R25000.
These items he genuinely believed were his property, he said.
He said it had been promised to him in August 1994 that GI would "amortise it to your rent and write if off to you after five years".
By Eddie Botha/(22 December, 2001) Source from Dispatch Online
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