INSTEAD of celebrating the purchase of a piece of land in KwaMlondo Street, Mzingazi, a woman was conned out of R28 000 – and is now running from pillar to post to lay a charge.
The woman, whose name is being withheld, deposited the cash into the account of land ‘owner’ Linda Khulekane Mathaba, after both made affidavits and produced ID documents at the Richards Bay police station, stating that Mathaba was selling the property to her for R30 000.
‘I was introduced to Mathaba by a friend and we agreed to meet at the site on Monday.
‘Mathaba was accompanied by someone introduced as ‘Zwane’, whom Mathaba claimed was his brother, and I was with my cousin,’ the woman said.
The four viewed the land and started negotiations.
‘Mathaba said there was a cleansing ritual at his homestead and took us to Zwane’s house instead.
‘I agreed to a pay R25 000 and R5 000 extra to the ‘Induna’ and we completed the affidavits at the police station.
The next day, however, shortly after she deposited the cash, Mathaba disappeared.
‘We immediately reported this to the police in an attempt to freeze his account, but they refused to open a case saying we had an agreement.
‘They referred us to the Empangeni Court for a letter of demand.’
At the bank, they discovered R20 000 was withdrawn from her account.
The matter was then reported to the Induna and Councillor, who said Mathaba had a reputation for such dealings.
The woman said a community search of taverns yielded no results.
‘The police said they could not arrest Zwane because he never took the money.
But a second women reported that she was also conned out of R25 000 on the same day relating to the same stand and the same modes operandi, allegedly by Zwane.
‘The Empangeni Magistrate’s Court said the Small Claims Court only issued letters of demands for under R15 000 and sent us to the Legal Aid Clinic,’ said the woman.
‘The Legal Aid Clinic in turn said since I currently reside in Durban, they could not take the case and referred me to the Durban Magistrate’s Court. There I was told it was a Richards Bay matter and they had no jurisdiction.’
At the time of going to print, the woman was back at the Richards Bay police station to try and resolve the matter.
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