Gugulethu residents fall for scam promising them vouchers worth R1 400

Cape Town - Residents of Gugulethu have fallen victim to a scam where they had to pay money to get vouchers.

According to some residents, there were long queues yesterday outside two houses at NY49 and NY24 in Gugulethu. The queues consisted of people who were paying R10 and in return were promised to receive vouchers worth R1 400.

The Weekend Argus tried speaking to those who fell foul of the scam. However, they declined, explaining how they had heard about the scam and decided to be part of it, despite not having seen any proper documentation.

Ward 38 councillor Luvuyo Zondani said when he had heard what was happening, he reported it to the police to investigate. He said after police investigations the two operations were closed.

He said desperate and vulnerable people easily fall prey to such scams.

“Poverty caused by unemployment makes them more vulnerable, also they seem to be comfortable gambling with R10 in this scam,” he said.

Zondani added that there are also “sweet talkers” who recruit people to such “inhumane scams”.

Gugulethu Community Police Forum Nokwanda Mkongi said after finding out about what was happening, they tried to establish who was behind the scam. She said they called the police to intervene after seeing residents flocking to the two houses with no valid explanation.

“I went with police to the house in NY 24 and when we got there we found the owner and three coloured women registering people,” she said.

Mkongi said the residents told them that they were registering for vouchers of R1 400.

She said when they questioned the women registering the residents, they said they were working for someone who lived in Tambo Square but declined to give the name of the person.

Mkongi said the house owners claimed the residents were crossing the railway line to go and register and, as they saw it as danger to them, they decided to open up their homes.

“They said they were just assisting the community by letting the registrations take place in their homes even though they did not have any proof of the legitimacy of the whole thing,” she said.

She said people who were vulnerable to the scam were the disadvantaged and poorest of the poor, because they were unable to see through the fact that it was too good to be true.

Weekend Argus

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 07:12:25 GMTSiyabonga Kalipa

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