Desperate jobseekers have been swindled out of thousands of rands by a scam artist who “sold” them jobs at the Buffalo City Metro (BCM).
More than 30 people allegedly paid an East London woman R1500 for work at the BCM.
On Tuesday, a group of 20 travelled from as far as Willowvale, Port Elizabeth and even Cape Town to report for duty – only to discover it was a scam.
The alleged victims are not the first to have been conned by “jobs for sale” scams. This year alone, dozens of jobseekers have allegedly been duped into paying up to R5000 for non-existent jobs and at least three of the alleged scammers claimed to be recruiting for BCM.
Nomzamo Ponyo from Gugulethu in Cape Town, who had planned to move to East London, sold her furniture and shack to make up the required amount. She heard about the jobs from a friend.
“I received a call saying that if I can pay such an amount of R1500, I can get work at this municipality. I told a few friends and we deposited the money in the woman’s account with the hope that this will happen, but it was all lies.”
The payments were made in July and September and the prospective employees were called to East London to sign “employment papers”.
“When we arrived here, we met with her and she took us to the North End area where we signed the forms. She kept on postponing the date of our employment.
“First we were told we would take our positions on October 5, then postponed to October 26 and now she has since vanished.”
Nozibele Magidiwana from Willowvale said all they wanted was their money. “She even made us sign forms with a BCMM logo and we believed that we were getting the work but it was all lies.”
The woman accused of swindling the jobseekers could not be reached yesterday. However, the Daily Dispatch managed to track down her parents in Amalinda, and they said they feared for her safety.
“She’s been doing this for a long time now and people have been knocking at this house looking for her. As her parents we really don’t support this and our only fear is that she will get hurt or killed,” said the father.
This is the third scam in recent months involving the BCM.
Siphenkosi Tutshana, who worked as a clerk at the municipality, went absent without leave in July after he was accused of allegedly targeting vulnerable jobseekers.
He allegedly furnished them with official municipal employment forms at a cost of between R300 and R1000 with the promise of jobs as general workers in the revenue management unit.
Earlier this month, former boxing champion Jackie Gunguluza was allegedly involved in a scandal where more than 40 people from the King William’s Town area were made to pay between R3000 and R5000 to secure jobs at BCM.
Metro spokesman Keith Ngesi could not be reached for comment yesterday, but earlier told the Daily Dispatch the allegations of selling jobs were viewed extremely seriously. “Any staff member found to have either ‘bought’ a job or ‘sold’ a job will be dismissed and criminal action may also be taken against them.”
A labour report released this week revealed there were 618570 registered jobseekers in the 2014-15 financial year. The report states there had been an increase in unemployment after the 2008-9 recession.
Silumko Bushula of the Association of Unemployed and Self-employed Workers Union of South Africa (Auwusa) said jobs-for-sale scams had to be investigated.
“That’s part of corruption. When one sees an opportunity to get a job for sale they jump at that. Those who are involved should be arrested and charged,” said Bushula.
National chairman of the South African Unemployed Workers Union, Cedric Sobe, cautioned jobseekers against buying jobs.
“People should always follow the right channels.”
East London police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said those who paid for jobs were part of the corruption. “When they do that they could be arrested. They bought the work instead of exposing it,” said Mqala. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
BOGUS JOBS SCAM
More than 30 people allegedly paid an East London woman R1500 for work at the BCM.
On Tuesday, a group of 20 travelled from as far as Willowvale, Port Elizabeth and even Cape Town to report for duty – only to discover it was a scam.
The alleged victims are not the first to have been conned by “jobs for sale” scams. This year alone, dozens of jobseekers have allegedly been duped into paying up to R5000 for non-existent jobs and at least three of the alleged scammers claimed to be recruiting for BCM.
Nomzamo Ponyo from Gugulethu in Cape Town, who had planned to move to East London, sold her furniture and shack to make up the required amount. She heard about the jobs from a friend.
“I received a call saying that if I can pay such an amount of R1500, I can get work at this municipality. I told a few friends and we deposited the money in the woman’s account with the hope that this will happen, but it was all lies.”
The payments were made in July and September and the prospective employees were called to East London to sign “employment papers”.
“When we arrived here, we met with her and she took us to the North End area where we signed the forms. She kept on postponing the date of our employment.
“First we were told we would take our positions on October 5, then postponed to October 26 and now she has since vanished.”
Nozibele Magidiwana from Willowvale said all they wanted was their money. “She even made us sign forms with a BCMM logo and we believed that we were getting the work but it was all lies.”
The woman accused of swindling the jobseekers could not be reached yesterday. However, the Daily Dispatch managed to track down her parents in Amalinda, and they said they feared for her safety.
“She’s been doing this for a long time now and people have been knocking at this house looking for her. As her parents we really don’t support this and our only fear is that she will get hurt or killed,” said the father.
This is the third scam in recent months involving the BCM.
Siphenkosi Tutshana, who worked as a clerk at the municipality, went absent without leave in July after he was accused of allegedly targeting vulnerable jobseekers.
He allegedly furnished them with official municipal employment forms at a cost of between R300 and R1000 with the promise of jobs as general workers in the revenue management unit.
Earlier this month, former boxing champion Jackie Gunguluza was allegedly involved in a scandal where more than 40 people from the King William’s Town area were made to pay between R3000 and R5000 to secure jobs at BCM.
Metro spokesman Keith Ngesi could not be reached for comment yesterday, but earlier told the Daily Dispatch the allegations of selling jobs were viewed extremely seriously. “Any staff member found to have either ‘bought’ a job or ‘sold’ a job will be dismissed and criminal action may also be taken against them.”
A labour report released this week revealed there were 618570 registered jobseekers in the 2014-15 financial year. The report states there had been an increase in unemployment after the 2008-9 recession.
Silumko Bushula of the Association of Unemployed and Self-employed Workers Union of South Africa (Auwusa) said jobs-for-sale scams had to be investigated.
“That’s part of corruption. When one sees an opportunity to get a job for sale they jump at that. Those who are involved should be arrested and charged,” said Bushula.
National chairman of the South African Unemployed Workers Union, Cedric Sobe, cautioned jobseekers against buying jobs.
“People should always follow the right channels.”
East London police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said those who paid for jobs were part of the corruption. “When they do that they could be arrested. They bought the work instead of exposing it,” said Mqala. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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