The trio was arrested on Thursday, 07 May 2021 by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team in Protea North, Soweto following an investigation that started in February 2021.

According to police spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha, this follows reports of jobs for sale that emerged from community members in Soweto.

“A preliminary probe revealed that the three ladies were impersonating Johannesburg Municipality employees purporting to be attached to Pickitup.”

Ramovha said the trio promised to ensure that the desperate job seekers would be employed by the City if they paid R600 upfront for a three months contract job.

“For R5000 once off payment job seekers were promised permanent jobs.”

The team seized registers with the list of all victims who paid money for the jobs. The trio made around R400 000 from the scam.

The case has been postponed to Monday, 17 May 2021 pending further investigation. Hlungwani and Chuma were remanded in custody whilst Machete was granted R2000 bail.