Johannesburg - One of the four bidders keen to buy the Bedfordview mansion of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir said the fact that it was once owned by a convicted felon did not faze him in the least.
Christiaan Gey van Pittius said he was interested in buying the four-storey mansion for himself, but in the end, decided against it because it would require a lot of "work" to get the house designed in the way he had envisioned.
The house went under the hammer at a high security auction on Saturday.
“It’s a beautiful house. You don’t think about it [Krejcir’s profession] when you're inside except for the security which is very strange. You would have to remove that as well. It’s kind of obvious everywhere in the house. There are about four steel gates throughout the house," he said, adding that "some tacky furniture" was the only other giveaway.
He said in terms of what he wanted, he would have to renovate too much of the house.
"Looking at the back house and trying to separate it would be impossible. The back house is quite interesting; they planned a theatre and a bowling alley, things that I’m not really interested in. So I didn’t see it fitting."
The auction was attended by three other bidders and lasted for about 10 minutes.
It is not yet known how much the home was auctioned for. Media were barred from attending.
There were three bouncers in black suits outside the gate while another four people inside the yard checked names against a list of permitted individuals.
The four people that bid had to put down R100 000 in order to register and be in line to acquire the mansion. His second house in the Vaal is also expected to go under the hammer on Saturday afternoon.
The properties were under a preservation order by the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
The Bedfordview property boasts an "open plan kitchen with dining room and separate laundry room", "built-in Miele appliances [including 90cm oven, gas hob, glass hob, coffee machine, microwave/convection oven, integrated fridge and freezer]" and an "enclosed patio area leading to decked rim flow swimming pool and sun lounging area, outside shower, jacuzzi, toilet and bird aviary [and] spectacular views".
Krejcir and his co-accused were convicted in August of drug dealing, kidnapping and attempted murder. Sentencing has since been postponed several times, most recently to February next year. Krejcir is also on trial for several other matters.
Meanwhile Krejcir was also convicted of fraud and attempted murder in his home country last week.