Farmers warned of funding scam
The department has finalised the adjudication of all applications received from farmers and the process is now closed
Farmers who’ve applied for the agricultural Covid-19 relief fund are warned of an ongoing scam to ‘fast-track’ applications.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s spokesman, Reggie Ngcobo said unscrupulous individuals are posing as government officials.
‘These people approach their target promising to fast-track their applications,’ explained Ngcobo. ‘They then phone or send text messages demanding an upfront payment of R2 000.’
According to Ngcobo, the text message reads: ‘We see that last year you have applied for Agricultural Covid-19 fund of R50 000, we want to process it fast so can you send R2 000 so we can process it before December. Capitec Bank W. WALSH Acc no: 1332654701 Branch Code 470010.’
Ngcobo appealed to all farmers to be alert: ‘This is just a scam, it’s not from our office. Farmers and community members do not have to pay for any government service, especially agricultural relief funding which is meant to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.’
He said that the department has finalised the adjudication of all applications received from farmers and the process is now closed.
