A RECENT arrest has lead to a significant breakthrough in a series of scams, offering people municipal jobs for a fee.
The arrest follows intense investigations conducted by the City Integrity and Investigations Unit, after members of the public made numerous complaints regarding fraudulent individuals who promise to find them jobs within the Municipality in exchange for a cash.
On Thursday, 9 October investigators received a tip off from a member of the public regarding one of the individuals purporting to be a Municipal employee and conning people out of their hard earned money.
Investigators subsequently set up a trap, and the suspect was arrested outside the City Hall, as the exchange took place. The accused was set to appear in court on Friday, 10 October.
The Municipality has issued several warnings to the public warning them of the scam and the use various modus operandis. In many cases the con men would advertise on popular websites, such as Gumtree, asking the applicants to pay them a fee before they could apply or register.
In another case one of the victims received an email, supposedly from the Municipal E-Careers site, inviting the person to come for an interview and to pay a fee. E-careers is the Municipality’s online recruitment system.
“The Municipality does not charge the public to apply for jobs. This is a free service. We appeal to the public not to respond to any of these job advertisements because they are bogus,” said Tozi Mthethwa, eThekwini Municipality’s head of Communications.
Members of the public are urged to report these cases to the City Integrity and Investigations Unit on 0800 202020.
