The Western Cape High Court has ordered a woman to hand back her father’s house after finding she never paid the agreed R650 000 purchase price and failed to prove claims he suffered from dementia, reports TimesLive.

In a scathing judgment delivered on Friday, the court ruled that ownership of the property must be transferred back to pensioner Reginald Fredericks (77), rejecting his daughter’s attempts to keep the home.

The court also questioned allegations by his daughter, Lauren, that Fredericks suffered poor mental capacity.

Acting Judge S Yake cancelled the sale agreement between the father and daughter, set aside the transfer of the property into her name and ordered that the home be returned to the elderly man.

The dispute centred on a property in Cape Town which Fredericks agreed to sell to his daughter, in February 2022 for R650 000.

According to court papers, the property was transferred into Fredericks’ name in May 2022. However, despite the transfer being completed, the agreed purchase price was never paid by Lauren.

The father approached the court seeking to cancel the sale agreement and regain ownership of the property.

Yake said the medical referrals relied on by Lauren were based largely on concerns she had raised herself and did not amount to an independent diagnosis.

In opposing the application, Lauren argued that her father had intended to transfer the property to her and raised concerns about his mental capacity. She relied on referral letters and medical records which she claimed supported allegations that her father was suffering from dementia.

But the court found there was no evidence that any doctor had diagnosed the pensioner with dementia.

The court accepted the findings of a specialist psychiatrist who examined the pensioner in April 2025, reports TimesLIVE.

The psychiatrist found that Fredericks had no history of mental illness, showed no signs of Alzheimer’s disease and had intact cognitive functioning. The judge found that the father had a direct and personal interest in the litigation and was fully capable of managing his own affairs and bringing the application.

Yake noted that the written sale agreement clearly recorded a purchase price of R650 000 and provided that the father could cancel the agreement if the daughter breached its terms.

Documents submitted during the transfer process also reflected that the property had been sold through a private treaty. 

The court found there was no evidence that the father intended to give the property away for free.

Finding that the daughter had breached the agreement by failing to pay the purchase price, the court ruled that the father was entitled to cancel the deal.

The Registrar of Deeds was ordered to facilitate the transfer of the property back into the pensioner’s name.

Lauren was ordered to pay the legal costs associated with the transfer and the court application.

Full TimesLIVE report

Judgment