Our Branches

Managing Director, Professional Valuer B.Ag.Mgt(Natal), AFM(UK), LLB (Natal), FIVSA, MRICS & diploma in International Arbitration.

With more than 30 years’ experience in property valuation Alan Stephenson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team.

He specialises in the valuation of agricultural, commercial, and industrial properties and together with his legal and agricultural management qualifications and experience, Alan has become recognised as one of the leading valuers in the field of agriculture and other properties throughout Southern Africa.

He has appeared as an expert witness in various court cases brought before the Supreme Court, Land Claims Court and before the Heath Special Investigation Commission.  Alan also appeared as an expert witness in an international arbitration matter held at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID) at the World Bank Washington.

Alan also acts as an assessor to the Land Claims Court and was involved in the Khumalo case where internationally recognised principles of valuations were introduced through the Point Gourde Principle.

Major assignments have included valuations for large corporations, banks, Governmental Departments, and private individuals. These assignments have included the valuation of properties for incorporation into various Game Reserves, dam, and pipeline servitudes for Mossgas, Eskom power line servitudes and the valuation of properties for large scale development purposes.

In addition, he has worked on the valuation of poultry, sugar cane, flower, timber and other specialized agricultural properties, the valuation and negotiation of settlements of properties under land claims. A wide variety of properties were valued for Capital Gains Tax purposes. Alan has also been appointed by various municipalities as Municipal Valuer for rating purposes in terms of the Municipal Property Rates Act.

Alan was elevated by his peers to a Fellow of the South African Institute of Valuers in recognition of his achievements in valuation.

Director, Project Manager, Professional Valuer

MSc, BSc. Bldg (Wits), Pr.CPM, MCIOB, NDPV, MIVSA

Stephen de Klerk has over 29 years experience, covering a variety of disciplines including project management, management consulting, facilities management and property valuations. As Project Manager for a major property development company, he was responsible for coordinating town planning, township establishment, construction, sales, marketing, conveyancing and implementation of the management systems for various property development schemes including affordable housing projects, sectional title schemes, cluster housing, office parks, office buildings and up-market residential security estates. His experience as a management consultant included working on a number of commissions in various fields including business cases, business processes, facilities management, property development and public private partnerships. Some of the more significant commissions in which he was involved include the facilities management tender for the Union Buildings and Parliamentary Complex, and the project management of the initial planning phase of the My Acre of Africa initiative which is endorsed by Nelson Mandela, its patron emeritus.

Stephen has been involved in property valuations since 2003. He is currently a professional valuer with experience in various valuation fields including residential, commercial, industrial, retail, property development schemes, agricultural, land claims, expropriations and municipal valuation rolls. His project management skills have been applied over the past 5 years to the management and co-ordination of the compilation of a number of municipal valuation rolls in which the firm has been involved.

With his property development background, he specialises in development valuations and feasibility models, and is still involved in property development schemes.

He is a Member of the Institute of Valuers and has served on the Branch Executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Branch of the South African Institute of Valuers.

Director, Professional Valuer, Chartered Surveyor & Appraiser

NDPV, MPRE, MIVSA, MRICS

 Scott has worked in the real estate industry since 1994.  He studied towards the National Diploma Real Estate (Property Valuation) and worked part time for Mills Fitchet during the latter part of the 1990’s, gaining crucial practical experience in the valuation of property.  In 2000-2001 he spent time in the United Kingdom for a year before returning to South Africa to a full-time position with Mills Fitchet.  

Scott has experience in all facets of property valuation including Trade Related Properties such as hospitals, hotels and lodges, profit driven private schools, commercial properties such as shopping centres, office blocks and petrol filling stations, industrial factories and warehouses, and all types of farms eg. dairy, poultry, piggeries, timber, irrigation, grazing, macadamia and pecan nut orchards, avocadoes, citrus, blueberries, and kiwi fruit, as well as game farms.  He was involved in the valuation of several properties for the Expropriation of land for the construction of the Spring Grove Dam, in the KZN Midlands, and worked closely with Advocate Gerrit Grobler SC (co- author of “Expropriation” contained in the book “The Law of South Africa”) on a matter that went to Arbitration.  Scott has produced several valuation reports for the legal fraternity to assist in resolving matters subject to litigation. He has also undertaken historical valuations dating back to the 1960’s to provide an opinion on property value that assists in determining whether just and equitable compensation was paid to those whose properties were expropriated due to the Group Areas Act.

He is the main point of contact and Principal Valuer for the Mills Fitchet Midlands branch for most of the major banks in the country.  Scott is also very involved in producing and maintaining Municipal Valuation Rolls for rating purposes and has acted as Municipal Valuer and Assistant Municipal Valuer for numerous Municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.  He has been particularly successful in defending his valuations in Appeal Board hearings.

Having qualified as a Professional Associated Valuer in 2003, Scott was awarded the KwaZulu-Natal branch prize for Best Student in Practical Valuation in 2003 by The South African Institute of Valuers and was registered as a Professional Valuer in 2009.  He became a shareholder and Director of Mills Fitchet (Natal) in 2005 and subsequently also Mills Fitchet (East Coast) and Mills Fitchet (Africa).  In 2010 he was appointed as an Appraiser in terms of The Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (66 of 1965) for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.  In 2012 he was Certified as a Master Practitioner in Real Estate (MPRE) and is register as a Principal Property Practitioner. 

Scott is a Member of the South African Institute of Valuers and has served on the Branch Executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Branch, at one point as the Vice Chairman.  He is also a Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).

He has mentored and continues to mentor Candidate Valuers to provide them with the required knowledge and skill to enable them to be registered as Professional Valuers.

Testimonial – “I have worked in various expropriation matters with Scott Aldridge.  These matters require the utmost accuracy and theoretical valuation knowledge from a valuer.  I found Scott to be the ideal assistant to get to the bottom of very difficult valuation problems.  He does not accept anything at face value but keeps digging deeper with sometimes surprising results.  One of the best I have worked with during my 40 years in expropriation work.” Advocate Gerrit Grobler SC.

B.Com, NDPV, MSAIV

Renier completed a B.com through the North-West University and then started his valuation career with Mills Fitchet in 2008.  In addition, he completed his National Diploma Real Estate (Property Valuation) with over 15 years working experience in the Property Valuation field and has extensive experience in commercial, industrial, agricultural and specialised property sectors. Valuations are prepared and compiled in line with National Legislation and International Valuation Standards (IVS).

He has managed various Municipalities Valuation Rolls from implementation to maintenance, including Appeal Board hearings in line with the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA).

Some key projects include the management of Land Acquisition Projects for the Manco Aurecon JV on behalf of the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL).  This involved valuations and negotiations on land parcels to be acquired for the widening of the R61 road reserve.  In addition, various properties were also valued for expropriation purposes for the realignment of the N3 at Hammarsdale/Keyridge.

Other notable specialised valuations involved strip valuations for expropriation purposes on properties between Hillcrest and Waterfall for Department of Transport, the valuation of various government and private owned properties around the old Durban Airport site for the construction of the proposed Dig-Out Port, valuation of various private owned properties for the determination of just and equitable compensation for a SASOL pipeline along the Durban South basin.

As part of the Mills Fitchet team, Renier compiles the valuations for the University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban University of Technology and University of Zululand for financial reporting purposes on an annual basis.

In November 2020, he acted as an expert witness in an Arbitration matter for expropriation purposes at which hearing the Arbitrator Mr KJ Kemp SC accepted his evidence and found him to be a credible and reliable witness.

Renier has further studied a Bachelor of Laws degree passing Cum Laude and has also completed 400 notional hours through the Law Society of South Africa in terms of the Regulations prescribed by Section 109(1)(a) of the Legal Practice Act.