A Mitchells Plain woman claims she was scammed out of R15 000 after befriending a gladdebek pensioner whom she met on a WhatsApp group.
Maureen August, 61, from Eastridge says she, along with at least eight other mense, loaned money to Wilna Cronje, 63.
She recalls how she met Cronje, from Worcester, after joining a WhatsApp social group last year.
“The purpose of the group is to make friends and have meet and greets so that is how I met Wilna,” explains Maureen.
She says they met in person as the group regularly held social events.
“The first time, in February 2023, she borrowed R3 500 and said she needed to have her furniture transported from Johannesburg to Cape Town,” Maureen adds.
As Cronje was only receiving a Sassa grant, Maureen felt sorry for her and helped.
“The second time she borrowed another R5 000 because she claimed she was hospitalised and needed to pay her medical bill, but she lied. When we phoned the hospital, they said that they do not have a patient under that name,” she says.
“From February to June, she borrowed more money and claimed that she was going to pay me back because she inherited money from an estate.
“I trusted her to pay me back because she would show me receipts and documents that show she has money coming in but she is so conniving, the documents are not legit because there was no reference number. When I asked her about it, she disappeared.”
According to Maureen, Cronje ran off to her lesbian lover in Port Elizabeth and also changed her cellphone number.
Maureen tried to open a police case but was referred to the small claims court.
She then decided to piemp Cronje on the WhatsApp group.
“When we started talking about what Wilna had done, more people came forward and said she did the same to them. She had all sorts of stories to get money out of people,” Maureen says.
An e-hailing driver from Paarl said he, too, was a victim. He claims he met Cronje when she booked a ride with him.
“She promised that she was going to sell me a Volkswagen Microbus but first I needed to pay the deposit of R3 500. She created a contract and after I paid her the money, she kept coming up with excuses, and now she has completely run away.”
He has since opened a case with police.
Police had not responded to queries at the time of publish.
The Daily Voice tried to contact Cronje on the numbers provided but none of them worked.