The housing woes in Alexandra have claimed another victim.
This after recent revelations by this paper of a dispute which resulted in a deceased man remaining in a mortuary for over a month due to a contested house; and another of a woman still struggling to recover her money after being conned by another woman.
The cases involve the illegal sale of council houses.
The new case is of Lesole Mokwena, who was allegedly conned by a female fraudster, Vuyiswa Lengoati. Mokwena said he responded to an advert for a house for sale on 9th Avenue in October last year.
He received a bank loan and paid Lengoati R25 000 with the agreement he would move in immediately and pay the balance of R10 000 later. The agreement is contained in a signed, but unstamped, affidavit.
He said ever since then, Lengoati has been evasive with an excuse that the person at the place she was to relocate to, had not moved out. He said he has tried to claim his money back since June, but to no avail. On one occasion, they met at the bank, but Lengoati gave excuses and requested deferment.
Mokwena took her to court but she didn’t turn up, and instead wrote another affidavit confirming her debt and promising to repay it in September, which she hasn’t.
“She has now promised to repay me on 31 October, but I don’t trust her,” he said.
An infuriated Mokwena said the matter was stressful as the bank deducts monthly payments from his account, while he rents a shack and Legoati lives comfortably in what should be his house. When contacted, Lengoati confirmed her debt which she promised to pay end October. However, she expressed anger at Mokwena for publicising the matter, and threatened to sue him for defamation.
A legal practitioner said there were many cases of fraudsters preying on the desperation and ignorance of others. He said sometimes the fraudsters got the affidavits stamped by the Alexandra Police Station to make the transaction look genuine.
The practitioner urged relevant authorities to halt this fraud and advised victims of the scam to open cases with the police, which should enable them to recover their money, and get the culprits incarcerated.
“They should not fear financial losses, as assets of perpetrators can be sold to recover the money,” he said.
He also claimed the relevant authorities can also be requested to evict the fraudsters and give the victims the houses.
