The City is probing allegations that community activist and DA member Fikile Mbewu, scammed Crossroads residents with the promise to fast track their applications on the City’s housing database.
Cape Town - The City is probing allegations that community activist and DA member Fikile Mbewu, scammed Crossroads residents with the promise to fast track their applications on the City’s housing database.
According to Crossroads residents, Mbewu gave them housing application forms to fill out and charged them R40 each.
The residents also said a bunch of application forms was found dumped at an illegal dumping site in the area last Tuesday containing sensitive information including copies of ID documents.
Several attempts to contact Mbewu were unsuccessful.
Ncumisa Poni said residents trusted Mbewu because he was at the forefront of the Crossroads Backyarders Movement.
“It was the beginning of this month when he went around with a (loud) hailer telling people to come to him to apply for houses or to help fast-track the City housing system applications.
We came out in numbers and went to the hall, where we were given forms and asked to pay R40.
Because we are desperate, we did not ask what the money was for. Some even borrowed money from other people so they could pay the fee.
“He is a very active person in our community and I thought at some point he would become our ward councillor because of his visibility. He is nowhere to be found now.
What angers me is that our confidential information (was found) at a dumping site and anything could happen.
People could commit fraud with our information,” said Poni.
The City confirmed that Mbewu was not employed by the municipality and it would investigate the claims.
“The City urges residents to be aware of scammers wanting to take advantage of vulnerable residents who are in need of affordable accommodation across the metro. If a resident is being asked to pay for a place on the Housing Needs Register, a plot of land, a Community Residential Unit (CRU), or a Breaking New Ground (BNG) opportunity that belongs to the City of Cape Town, it is illegal and it is a scam.
The City always reminds residents that they do not need to pay to register on the City’s Housing Needs Register or to receive a State-subsidised unit if they are qualifying beneficiaries.
The City’s Housing Needs Register is a fair system, which objectively determines who gets an opportunity. The City has various housing projects at different stages, be it in the planning phase or already under construction, across the metro,” said the City.
Ward councillor, Nceba Ntshweza said they were in the process of lodging a criminal charge at the police station against Mbewu.
“They assumed that he has powers to do what he said because he is a DA member. The other day he entered the community hall with his people that he was scamming by force and threatened the security guards when they asked if he had booked the hall.
“He lied to them and told them that he has access to the City’s housing data system and that he is one of the people responsible for fast-tracking people’s applications on the data system. The application forms were found dumped at an illegal dumping site with people’s details including cell numbers and copies of ID books,” Ntshweza said.
DA provincial deputy leader JP Smith said the party was not aware of the allegations.
“We do, however, take such matters seriously and will deal with it accordingly and any DA member found guilty of such actions will face disciplinary consequences. We request the concerned member of the public to provide us with the necessary affidavits to enable the DA to bring a formal complaint against the member, which will then be formally investigated,” said Smith.
Cape Times
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