A Parow woman says she was the victim of a scam that has left her without her car and a R95 000 bill to pay.
Bulelwa Dingana said she gave her 2020 Hyundai Tucson to her friend, Mzolisi Damba, to use in his car rental business in Johannesburg last October but since then it has been reported stolen and she is left with a bill.
“I lost my job last May and could not afford the car payments so I arranged with Mzolisi that he could use the car for his business, LLUU Rental,” she explains.
“The arrangement was that he would rent the car out to clients while also paying the instalment of R7 879 and the insurance of about R1 000.
“The car was apparently stolen on December 6 but Mzolisi only told me three days later.
“When he showed me the rental agreement it showed different signatures, improper driver’s licence and the car is still gone.
“Also the registration number was changed when it came to Johannesburg and I did not sign any paperwork for that.”
This month she received an email stating her insurance had paid the balance of the car to her bank, but there was a shortfall of R95 000 that she has to pay.
Mzolisi insists that he followed all legal procedures and is simply a victim of theft.
“The car was supposed to come back on December 6 but when we contacted the customer, he said he needed the car for an extra four days and would pay for the extra time.
“A few days later, I felt something was wrong when I saw the first agreement and I checked our tracking system on the car.
“That is when I found out the tracker was removed.
“I got permission from Bulelwa to change the registration number and I even hired a private investigator to find the car.”
Bulelwa says she’s waiting to hear from her lawyer who is liable for the outstanding R95K.
junior.bester@inl.co.za