One of two men arrested for their alleged involvement in a scam defrauding desperate job seekers of a substantial amount of money, is reportedly an employee of Centlec. Lele Mamatu, spokesperson for the entity, said Centlec has suspended Mbuyiselo Gcinisa, following his arrest on 22 April.
Gcinisa was arrested by the Botshabelo police on allegations of defrauding unsuspecting job seekers, falsely promising them employment at Centlec. He reportedly works as a call center agent.
“He will be facing internal disciplinary charges in addition to criminal charges. He was on leave at the time of his arrest by the police in Botshabelo,” said Mamatu.
Mamatu confirmed the entity had been informed about employees’ apparent involvement in the scamming of job seekers, promising them a permanent job in exchange for money.
The two men said to be involved in the scam, aged 61 and 28, are expected to reappear in the Botshabelo Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 13 May. The Bloemfontein Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team pounced on them and they are remanded in custody.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said the elite crime fighting wing received information about corrupt activities taking place in Botshabelo, where a person pretending to be an employee of Centlec promised a complainant a job at the power distributor on the ground he paid an amount of R6 000.
“The complainant complied and paid R3 000 at first, then later paid another R1 500. The suspect started to demand an outstanding amount of R1 500 from the complainant, who had by then discovered that the suspect was not employed by Centlec,” said Matoti.
She said reliable information received led to the arrest of the suspect and an accomplice.
