Top estate agent in row with his 'skivvy'

[caption id="attachment_42243" align="alignright" width="300"] HARMONIOUS TIMES: Estate agent Jaco Rademeyer, right, and former employee Eddie van Pachtenbeke at the handover of a car which is now a bone of contention between the two[/caption]

THE dirty laundry of a young Port Elizabeth estate agent and his flamboyant former personal assistant was aired in a bitter court battle in the Port Elizabeth High Court this week.

While Jaco Rademeyer claimed the Belgian man who worked for him for three years owed him close to R200000, Eddie van Pachtenbeke hit back that he was underpaid and treated like a "skivvy".

Rademeyer had asked the court to freeze some of Van Pachtenbeke's funds pending the reimbursement of the cash. But he was dealt a severe blow on Wednesday when the court not only rejected his application, but ordered him to pay costs.

Rademeyer, owner of Jaco Rademeyer Estates, brought his woes to the high court via an urgent application. He claimed that Van Pachtenbeke, 60, who worked for him between February 2011 and April this year, owed him close to R200000.

However, Van Pachtenbeke told the court that it was, in fact, his former boss who owed him money. - Kathryn Kimberley