Hajira Bantom, Bonteheuwel
My first contact with Dowayne Louw was on July 6, 2024. I asked him to come out to my place to give me a quotation. He then sent a quote of R121 000, stating 80% must be paid upfront to secure material for the project and 20% when the project is fully completed.
My daughter Asheeqah Samuels made a loan and paid Mr Louw 80%, which was R96 800 on January 27, 2025. He started the project on January 30, 2025 and said it will take two and a half weeks to finish, estimating to complete the project by February 21, 2025.
On February 20, he asked for another payment to cover his plumber.
We made a payment of R12 100. That was our second payment, which he was not supposed to get yet. When the plumbing was done, it was time for the electrician to come out.
He then wanted more money. I told Mr Louw that he was not supposed to get any more money until the project was completed, as I already paid the 10% that wasn't supposed to be paid yet.
Mr Louw started to stay away. I kept on asking when he's going to complete my project. On March 27, I went to his house in Mitchell's Plain and he promised he would come on April 1 but he didn’t show up. I phoned him and sent messages. He later replied to say that he doesn’t have money to finish my project.
We are a family of four, who have been living in a wendy house for over 20 years. I would like Mr Louw to finish my project this week because we've been staying with friends and family and I can no longer pay three different households. I'm also very disappointed in Mr Louw for not keeping his word on my project. I would not like this to happen to somebody else.
Dowayne Louw, owner of Corner Stone Concretes Pty Ltd, responds:
I am the registered owner of Corner Stone Concretes Pty Ltd for the past three years. The business is not registered at the National Homebuilders Registration Council yet – registration is in process.
I'm replying to the complaint lodged by a client of mine, Hajira Bantom. The client gave me a building plan that was close to its expiry date, rushing to get the process started on a one-bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and semi-detached storage space.
I quoted the client R121 000 based on the plan she gave me, which she accepted in January 2025. As soon as the structure was up, the client stopped me and demanded I change the plan and build an extra two bedrooms.
I told her that I can't change the building plan as it's approved by council and it will cost more seeing that she wants extra rooms that were never quoted for.
She insisted that we build [the extra bedrooms] because she paid us. I told her countless times that it has a lot of extra cost involved. I then had to buy extra materials that were not quoted for [originally], which cost me extra working days and extra labour had to be paid.
I then asked the client to give me 10% of the 20% balance owed, which was supposed to be the profit of the project but I had to use it for material.
There have been countless times where guys in the area broke in at night and stole from the materials and damaged the structure. The client kept me liable for all these damages. She accused my workers on many occasions of stealing her stuff just to find out that people in the area were breaking into her place.
I was honest enough to sit down and tell the client that I have to stop production as the deposit she gave is not enough and now I have to generate funds to complete her place, which was not part of the original agreement.
There is still work to be done and I am not done with the site yet, but as a small business owner what am I to do? I'm now generating funds to complete a place that's now way more than what was quoted.
The client refuses to pay more but she is sitting with a way bigger house than what was quoted. I am going to honour my agreement and told the client that I'm getting funds so that I can complete her place.