Two City officials accused of scamming residents out of nearly R1 million in a housing scam have been sent to the mang.
The duo appeared at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Friday after they were arrested for allegedly defrauding desperate mense using a legitimate City housing project.
The officials – Gerrit Engelbrecht, 56, and Neil Wielman, 51 – joined their co-accused Lennox Ntsodo, 36, and Nombongo Bidi, 28, in court where they face 11 charges of fraud.
According to the charge sheet, the foursome had between July and October 2022, in the Mfuleni area, unlawfully, falsely and with the intent to defraud the complainants, pretended that they are authorised to sell plots of land to individuals for a sum of R100 000 each.
According to the State, the four pocketed close to R900 000. The plots that were being “sold” to the complainants have been made available to qualifying beneficiaries for the development of housing.
Engelbrecht and Wielman allegedly approached Lennox and Nombongo, asking if they knew anyone who would buy plots directly from them.
Lennox and Nombongo scouted out prospective buyers by also pretending to work for the City.
Police spokesperson André Traut says detectives attached to the provincial Commercial Crimes Unit were assigned to investigate allegations of fraud after none of the buyers received their properties.
The City has since confirmed that one of the accused officials resigned with immediate effect while the other was suspended.
All four of the accused have been remanded back into custody.
Lennox, Gerrit and Neil will spend their nights at Goodwood Prison, while Nombongo was sent to Goodwood women’s prison.
They will appear in court again on Thursday for bail application.
Community activist Ernest Williams tells the Daily Voice that these types of scams are nothing new on the Cape Flats.
“As a community, we should call out these scammers and expose them because it’s a major loss to our people who have been waiting for years on housing lists.
“What’s even sadder is that this has a domino effect on the system, because now the original owners also have to wait until the court case is done,” Williams added.
“The City should do better to make it known who the legal owners are, and our community needs to learn that the City cannot sell plots [for social housing].”
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za