The official unemployment rate was 29.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Picture: KALHH/Pixabay The official unemployment rate was 29.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Picture: KALHH/Pixabay
With some help from Sunday Independent, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with three alleged fraudsters who have been scamming unsuspecting and desperate job seekers in and around Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni.
They went under the name Khulumani Care, and their modus operandi was to place online adverts seeking caregivers and then book different upmarket lodges to conduct their interviews. They used forms with the logo of the Department of Labour, and Umalusi, to legitimise their business.
The unsuspecting job seekers were then asked to pay for uniforms and to be placed on the fraudsters data base.
After being alerted by Nosipho Nyathi, one of many job seekers who had fallen prey to the fraudsters, I applied for a position via a WhatsApp number that the scammers had put up on the internet along with the ads.
I got an immediate response: “Bring a copy of your ID, asylum, passport or drivers license if you have it and 135 ZAR for pinafores, protective aprons and uniforms. Any travelling expenses, which you incur to attend the interview, will be reimbursed By Employer.”
The meeting was Le Chateau Guesthouse in Kempton Park.
There was a hive of activity with people coming for interviews.
I was asked for my CV and a copy of my ID by a well-dressed man who told me that I qualified for an interview. From there I was referred to a woman who looked professional but was without manners for someone conducting an interview.
She kept chatting on her phone while pretending to conduct an interview. After asking about my work experience, I had told her I had been a cleaner for two and a half years.
“She then asked me if I would be able to work as a cleaner in a care centre where there were kids, the elderly or people suffering from mental illness. I said “yes” and then she said: “Congratulations, you got the job.”
Thereafter, she asked me to pay R130 for uniforms and told me that I would also have to come on Saturday to pay another R260 to be put on their database before I got assigned. This was on a Thursday.
After the interview, outside the hall, I met Solani Siphathiso who told me he had parted with R380 on February 28 and has been promised, many times, that he was going to be placed in a job.
Siphathiso said he was interviewed at Melwood Airport BnB in Rhodesfield, Kempton Park, and when he went there a few days after the interview, he was told that “those people have moved”.
While speaking to Siphathiso, I saw the fraudsters sharing the money, and I captured this on my cellphone.
I then gathered some of the job seekers, including Nyathi, who had parted with R380 for “uniforms and placement” in an old age home, and encouraged them to go to the police to report the matter.
The following morning, the Norkem Park Police swiftly moved in and arrested the culprits.
Sergeant Matsoku Johanna Madiga confirmed that three Zimbabweans, one female and two males, were in custody and had been charged with fraud. They will appear at Kempton Park Magistrate Court tomorrow.
When I asked one of the accused why they were conducting their interviews at a guest house instead of their offices, he told me that they were in partnership with several lodges and Le Chateau was one of them.
The owner of Le Chateau, Marius Marais, has distanced his company from Khulumani Care, saying they have never formed a partnership: “The company that hired our conference facility this morning was Introways.
“We did not partner with a company called Khulumani Care. We did not partner with a company called Introways. One of our function venues was used this morning for two hours on a client base, and not partner base, agreement.
“Introways indicated that they will need a conference room for the next month, every weekday from 8am to 10am.
“If this is proven by the authorities as a scam, I will cancel their bookings immediately. We will not allow any crime related actions on our premises.
Nyathi, 53, told Sunday Independent that after she paid the R380 to the two men and the woman, she got a message informing her that she has been placed at an old age home.
“I went to Benoni where * had been placed, only to discover that there was an old age home, but not at the address I was given. However, that home was taking volunteers only. It had three working staff and a sister-in-charge who was not present at that time”.