Police in Gauteng are searching for scammers, including a boyfriend who vanished with a Tshwane woman’s R2.4 million pension payout, leaving her and her family in distress and financial dire straits.
Provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed to IOL that the manhunt is on, and no one has been arrested yet.
“Police can confirm that a case of theft has been opened at Hammanskraal police station for investigation, and the search for the suspect is under way,” Masondo told IOL.
For decades, Nobuhle* had worked as a school teacher and it was in January 2022 when she met the man who introduced himself to her as Mark Kagame from Tanzania. IOL has withheld the scammed woman’s real name, to avoid further victimisation.
“Because I was not in any relationship, he asked me out and I agreed. He told me that he was from Tanzania and I told him there was no problem. Along the way, he wanted me to resign because I was always sick but I told him I could not because I had children in school,” Nobuhle narrated to IOL.
“He was a quiet person. He looked so honest and sincere. He was caring and loving.”
In hindsight, Nobuhle recounts that the man who claimed to be an asylum-seeker from Tanzania had “rushed” to be intimate with her, soon after the relationship started.
“He rushed to be intimate with me. We were not living together but I visited him where he stayed. We took pictures together but not too much. He met my youngest children and he seemed to like them. When we, my kids and I, invited him to come to my house, he was not keen but he would come and pick me up from home. He would wait in the car,” said Nobuhle.
Last year, as the romantic relationship blossomed, Nobuhle said Kagame said he wanted her to meet his uncle.
“I went to meet the uncle at his home. He gave us food and until today I still wonder what was in that food. After eating, the uncle said we should go into a certain room and I cannot explain how I was just agreeing to everything without asking questions. My mind was not working well,” she said.
She said in the “prayer room” the events included clapping hands shouting the word “father” repeatedly, and then suddenly a voice boomed out from nowhere.
“Surprising, that voice of the ‘father’ knew my name and everything. We were told to pray and after that the uncle opened a drawer and there was a lot money in that drawer. The uncle said the money had been given to me by ancestors. The uncle then said I should go and resign. I did not ask any questions,” said Nobuhle.
The teacher was made to believe that the money in the drawer amounted to R20 million cash.
The veteran school teacher who had served in government for 32 years resigned from work in September last year.
Nobuhle’s R2.4 million pension lump sum was deposited into her FNB account in March 2024. Before the money reflected in Nobuhle’s bank account, she said the mysterious voice of the “ancestor” had already told her in advance.
“It was like I was possessed. The uncle said when I get paid (the pension) I must not tell my kids, but he would be the first to know. The uncle would provide transport for me to come to his house. Then the talking ancestor would tell me what to do. Then somewhere in March I was summoned to the uncle and the ‘ancestor’ told me the actual amount and date of my pension payout. It happened exactly like that,” said Nobuhle.
The woman was then instructed to open additional bank accounts at Standard Bank and Absa.
“They instructed me to transfer R500,000 to each bank and leave the other amount with FNB. My total pension payment was R2,400,000. The first bank we went to was FNB Jubilee Mall. We also went to the Grove mall, Menlyn Park mall, Hatfield, and North Park mall in Pretoria North. Every time after withdrawing I would give the money to the uncle,” said Nobuhle.
The money was withdrawn over a period of weeks.
“All this time I was occassionally staying with the boyfriend. They told me that I was withdrawing the money to cleanse it because I have bad luck. The uncle even said we must start to look for a house and cars that we are going to buy and that after cleansing the money, he will deposit the money into my account and bank accounts of my kids,” said Nobuhle.
The withdrawals of Nobuhle’s pension amount happened entirely in March.
She stayed at her own home, hoping that the boyfriend and his uncle would deposit her money after the “cleansing”, but nothing happened.
“When I contacted the uncle, he promised to deposit but he never did. I tried to call him but he blocked me, I tried the boyfriend and he also blocked me. Then I went to their houses, and found that they were gone. I went to the police to open the case but the case was closed the following day,” said Nobuhle.
“I suggested to the police that they take my case to the Hawks but they said the case will be dismissed because I am the one who made the withdrawals. My son even tried to engage the investigating officer but he was not willing to talk.”
A week ago, Nobuhle said she got a call from the investigating officer who notified her that the case was transferred to the Syferskuil police station in North West.
“I think my case is dead,” said Nobuhle.
She also recounted that before being defrauded of the R2.4 million, she had given the boyfriend R100,000 which was never paid back. The total amount she was scammed by the boyfriend is R2.5 million.
The 57-year-old woman told IOL that she is in financial dire straits.
“When I realised that I had been scammed, I was in disbelief, shocked and wished it was all a dream. I cried so hard that I didn't eat for two weeks, crying and had not been able to sleep. Prayer kept me sane,” said Nobuhle.
“I'm in a financial mess, I barely survive but I am pushing through, nonetheless.”
IOL has been running the scammed series, where numerous South African women have now joined hands, speaking out against the rampant romance scams.
The women who are often breadwinners in their households, are left destitute, emotionally traumatised, with some women reportedly committing suicide after being scammed.
In July, IOL reported that another Gauteng mother in her 50s is ruing the day she met the man who became her lover for about a year, before he disappeared with her pension lump sum of R2.8 million, leaving her and her two sons without enough to eat.
* Not her real name
IOL