Remax Southern Africa has dismissed an independent contractor whose leaked conversation with a prospective tenant, amounting to unlawful racial discrimination, has gone viral.
In a screenshot posted on X, the agent stated that the preference for a Pretoria rental was given to a white person.
The real estate company claims it has “zero tolerance towards racism.”
REMAX DISMISSES AGENT, SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT
In recent days, a screenshot of a conversation between a Remax property agent and a prospective tenant went viral on the X app.
The individual was inquiring about renting a one-bedroom apartment in Sinoville, Pretoria.
The rental agent asked, “What ethnicity are you?”. The interested party replied, “Is this rental available for certain ethnicities?”
The agent responded: “White, unfortunately”.
It is unclear who issued the directive on the race preference.
The South African contacted the agent, who stated that the screenshot reflected a “poorly worded private communication” and “no discriminatory allocation occurred”.
In a statement to The South African, Remax has since revealed that the agent had been dismissed.
It shared: “We recently became aware of an incident involving an independent contractor at one of our offices whose actions did not align with our brand’s values and code of conduct.
“As a result, their contract was terminated with immediate effect.
“Remax Southern Africa has a zero-tolerance policy toward racism and racial profiling. We remain fully committed to treating every individual with dignity, fairness, and respect”.
Image via Canva
CRIMINAL OFFENCE
According to section 4(1) of the Rental Housing Act (Act 50 of 1999), it is illegal for a landlord or an estate agent – in this case, an independent contractor to Remax – to discriminate against prospective tenants on the basis of race, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, amongst other things.
In 2021, a Tyson agent came under fire after she told a prospective tenant that her “client is race-specific”.
The real estate company dismissed the agent in a statement, vowed to “never work with racist landlords” again.
Tyson Properties does not condone or tolerate any form of racism amongst our partners colleagues and clients, we are…
Posted by Tyson Properties Cape Town on Tuesday 19 October 2021
The agent released her own social media apology, stating that she had reluctantly agreed to solicit a landlord’s request not to accept applicants from black tenants.
She shared: “In hindsight, I should have objected to this request as it goes against my own values, the principles of the company I represent, and our constitution.
“It is (none) other than crude racism, which I detest. It was my duty to call it out. Which I neglected to do. It was my oversight for which I take full responsibility and accountability”.
She added: “I trust that you will accept my sincere apology, I promise this is not who I am. I should have known better and pledge to do better”.
