Couple insist on inheriting their ‘maid’s’ house

A WHITE couple whose domestic servant of 30 years bequeathed them all her worldly possessions under unexplained circumstances have refused to give up a one-bedroom Apartheid-era house in Katutura to her relatives.

Michiel Johannes de Beer and Hester Magdalena de Beer have made a final offer to sell Katrina Petrus’s house to her relatives who have lived there for over 10 years. They have now put the price at N$20 000 after initially asking for between N$45 000 and N$50 000.The Windhoek Municipality had valued the property at N$27 000 Schalk Steyn, the lawyer for the De Beers, said last week that his client had settled on the amount, and if the family did not take it, the inheritance would be re-advertised.This would allow them to sell the house on the open market.Maria Nangombe, a niece of Petrus who had lived with her since the 1980s, said she was left with “no other choice” but to buy the house for which she helped pay the bond for several years – when her aunt had moved to Henties Bay while working for the De Beers.”We will be homeless if we don’t raise the money to buy it,” said Nangombe.”As far as I am concerned it is wrong even though there appears to be nothing we can legally prove wrong.”Nangombe and her relatives have previously accused the De Beers of acting unjustly.The domestic worker’s family said they doubt that the semi-literate Petrus knew what she was doing when she signed the will on December 9 1987.It read in Afrikaans:”Ek bemaak hiermee my algehele boedel and bates van welke aard ookal en waar ookal gelee, hetsy roerend of onroerend, liggaamlik of onliggaamlik, in gelyke dele aan Michiel Johannes de Beer en Hester Magdalena de Beer (gebore Jacobs) van Windhoek, Suidwes Afrika.”(I hereby bequeath my entire estate and assets of whatever nature and wherever situated, whether movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, in equal parts to …of South West Africa.”The will was drawn up by a partner in the Van Der Merwe, Greef Incorporated law firm where Steyn works.Nangombe failed to challenge the will as handwriting experts declared it genuine.Katrina Petrus started working for the De Beers at Ongwediva aged 18.She moved with them to Cape Town, Windhoek and Henties Bay where she suffered a stroke.The De Beers said her family, dispatched her to Windhoek by train to her relatives, who then took care of the bed-ridden Petrus at the village where she was born in northern Namibia.Nangombe accused the De Beers of not giving Petrus severance pay or a retirement package.She died on August 26 2000.Nearly two years later, the De Beers “rocked up” at the Katutura house and told Nangombe that the house belonged to them.De Beer initially claiming that he had bought the house for her.He also showed them the will.It was the first time they had heard of this.Nangombe’s protest that she had paid part of the N$8 000 mortgage fell on deaf ears:Johannes de Beer demanded N$500 monthly rent.The rest of the loan was covered by insurance when she died.De Beer has turned down appeals from Nangombe and her family that he, at least, donate the house to them as a goodwill gesture in memory of their departed “faithful servant” of more than three decades.The couple could not be reached for comment at their Henties Bay retirement home.The Regional Councillor for the Khomasdal North constituency where the one-bedroom house is situated, Margareth Mensah-Williams, last year described the inheritance as “a shame in an independent Namibia that the ‘haves’ can inherit from poor people.”If he cared so much, he should have even taken her back to her village where she came from.That would be humanity to me.But the mere fact that he sent her by train and then all of a sudden he comes to say ‘I am coming to claim my inheritance’, I think it’s a shame,” said Mensah.Petrus was never married and did not have children.Nangombe and her relatives are now trying to raise the money to buy the house whose ownership they believe should never have been in doubt.They have now put the price at N$20 000 after initially asking for between N$45 000 and N$50 000.The Windhoek Municipality had valued the property at N$27 000 Schalk Steyn, the lawyer for the De Beers, said last week that his client had settled on the amount, and if the family did not take it, the inheritance would be re-advertised.This would allow them to sell the house on the open market.Maria Nangombe, a niece of Petrus who had lived with her since the 1980s, said she was left with “no other choice” but to buy the house for which she helped pay the bond for several years – when her aunt had moved to Henties Bay while working for the De Beers.”We will be homeless if we don’t raise the money to buy it,” said Nangombe.”As far as I am concerned it is wrong even though there appears to be nothing we can legally prove wrong.”Nangombe and her relatives have previously accused the De Beers of acting unjustly.The domestic worker’s family said they doubt that the semi-literate Petrus knew what she was doing when she signed the will on December 9 1987.It read in Afrikaans:”Ek bemaak hiermee my algehele boedel and bates van welke aard ookal en waar ookal gelee, hetsy roerend of onroerend, liggaamlik of onliggaamlik, in gelyke dele aan Michiel Johannes de Beer en Hester Magdalena de Beer (gebore Jacobs) van Windhoek, Suidwes Afrika.”(I hereby bequeath my entire estate and assets of whatever nature and wherever situated, whether movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, in equal parts to …of South West Africa.”The will was drawn up by a partner in the Van Der Merwe, Greef Incorporated law firm where Steyn works.Nangombe failed to challenge the will as handwriting experts declared it genuine.Katrina Petrus started working for the De Beers at Ongwediva aged 18.She moved with them to Cape Town, Windhoek and Henties Bay where she suffered a stroke.The De Beers said her family, dispatched her to Windhoek by train to her relatives, who then took care of the bed-ridden Petrus at the village where she was born in northern Namibia.Nangombe accused the De Beers of not giving Petrus severance pay or a retirement package.She died on August 26 2000.Nearly two years later, the De Beers “rocked up” at the Katutura house and told Nangombe that the house belonged to them.De Beer initially claiming that he had bought the house for her.He also showed them the will.It was the first time they had heard of this.Nangombe’s protest that she had paid part of the N$8 000 mortgage fell on deaf ears:Johannes de Beer demanded N$500 monthly rent.The rest of the loan was covered by insurance when she died.De Beer has turned down appeals from Nangombe and her family that he, at least, donate the house to them as a goodwill gesture in memory of their departed “faithful servant” of more than three decades.The couple could not be reached for comment at their Henties Bay retirement home.The Regional Councillor for the Khomasdal North constituency where the one-bedroom house is situated, Margareth Mensah-Williams, last year described the inheritance as “a shame in an independent Namibia that the ‘haves’ can inherit from poor people.”If he cared so much, he should have even taken her back to her village where she came from.That would be humanity to me.But the mere fact that he sent her by train and then all of a sudden he comes to say ‘I am coming to claim my inheritance’, I think it’s a shame,” said Mensah.Petrus was never married and did not have children.Nangombe and her relatives are now trying to raise the money to buy the house whose ownership they believe should never have been in doubt.