Workers at a Colorado Park-based call centre, in Mitchells Plain, say they went without pay after completing a full month of work, and that their employer kept changing her reasons for not paying them.
On investigation the TygerBurger found that the woman who was running the company was not a registered debt counsellor, nor was the company, and may be acting illegally.
Three moves in one month
The business, Debt Financial Solutions, which advertises on TikTok and has a website, offered services including debt removal, mediation, credit score improvement and the removal of negative credit listings.
Workers provided TygerBurger with the business’s contact numbers, adverts and the script they use when making calls to potential clients.
According to workers, the operation relocated three times in a single month. Most recently, staff were moved from Highlands Drive into a garage in Colorado Park. Their employer, known to workers only as Auntie Martha, promised it would be temporary and that proper premises would soon be found.
Conditions in the garage were poor. Workers say they could not flush the toilets properly and had to use buckets of washing water to do so. They were also unable to use the kitchen or access water freely to clean their workstations.
Training and probation
One worker, who spoke to TygerBurger on condition of anonymity, said she joined the business about two months ago and was told the first two weeks would be for training and the following two weeks for probation, with no pay for either period.
For the following month, workers were told their basic salary would be R3 000, with additional commission.
Payday postponed, then cancelled
On Thursday 30 April, workers were told they would not be paid because Friday 1 May, was a public holiday and the money could not be processed. They were asked to wait until Monday. Then, on Sunday evening 3 May, a message arrived saying there was no money at all. Their employer said she had had to pay her lawyers as well as Wi-Fi costs and leads for the dialling system. Workers were also told R1 000 would be taken from their pay for transport between their location and Colorado.
As of Sunday 12 May, workers had still not been paid. One worker says she was never given a payslip or a letter confirming her employment, despite asking. She says her employer responded by asking why she needed them.
A possible pattern
Those familiar with the matter believe this may not be the first time it has happened. They say the employer appears to recruit staff, use their work for a month or two, and then let them go without pay. A pay structure ranging from R0 to R3 000 depending on sales, they say, makes it easy to claim workers did not meet their targets and therefore earned nothing as the employer’s position was: “No sales, no pay.”
Another worker, who worked for a different company for a full month, without pay, said he too had the same experience.
“It just seems like all those places are actually just scams, even if they are registered,” he said.
The man claims that the company showed the workers registration papers but none of the sales people ever made enough sales to qualify for payment, which was entirely commission based.
He said many of the leads phoned also complained that they had been scammed by similar companies before.
“They would say that they did this before but even when the debt is paid up, they’re still paying — or a lot of times the debt doesn’t even get paid — so they’re paying the debt collectors or the debt review people, but their accounts are not getting paid. Most of the contracts are for 24-months but after 24 months there’s still money coming off the accounts and it’s impossible to stop.”
Must be registered by law
Workers say they were under the impression that Debt Financial Solutions was registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR), based on information they were shown. Under Section 44(2) of the National Credit Act, no person may offer or carry out the services of a debt counsellor unless registered with the NCR. Operating without registration is an offence and can result in a fine or imprisonment of up to 12 months.
Martha’s response
TygerBurger contacted Martha posing as a potential client. Initially she claimed that she was a debt relief counsellor until the reporter asked for her surname. She insisted it was not relevant. When asked whether she was registered as a debt counsellor — so that her details could be verified — she denied running a debt relief company.
TygerBurger did however check, using her first name, if she was registered on the NCR website. According to the site, none of the Marthas who are registered work in Mitchells Plain. The only registered debt counsellor called Martha that worked in Cape Town was based in Bothasig and for a company registered under a completely different name.
TikTok adverts
TygerBurger also called the numbers provided for Debt Financial Solutions on its TikTok advert. An employee answered and when TygerBurger asked for the registration number someone by the name of Tashriq took over the call.
Tashriq said he would not provide the registration number over the phone but insisted that the company was registered. When the TygerBurger pointed out that registration information was part of the public record and that the company was not registered on the NCR site, he said that he would only show the reporter the registration number in person. When TygerBurger tried to record the call, he hung up.
Open a case, police advise
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, advised that the workers open a criminal case so that the matter could be investigated.
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