City of Cape Town Officials Charged in R1 Million Housing Scam

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed the court appearance of two out of four individuals implicated in a housing scam that amounted to close to R1 million. The scam suspects include two officials working for the City of Cape Town. They face court hearings following their fraudulent activities related to the City's extension 2 Mfuleni project.

The accused, two city officials aged 51 and 55 and the other two suspects aged 28 and 36, have been charged on 11 counts of fraud linked to the illegal sale of municipal plots. The city officials allegedly roped in the other suspects to facilitate the sale of these government-owned plots. They set a selling price of R100,000 which 11 prospective buyers paid directly to the scamming quartet.

The city's initiative to provide plots for housing development was exploited by these officials and their accomplices. They convinced the unsuspecting public to divert large sums of money into a shared bank account.

Regrettably, the victims of this scam ended up losing substantial amounts of money for properties that were never legally theirs to begin with. The fraudulent activity has resulted in the victims suffering a combined financial loss of R900,000.

According to information provided by city sources, one of the accused officials resigned immediately after the illegal activities came to light, and the second is currently suspended.

The city’s Special Investigative Unit, who originally led the investigation, is encouraging victims of housing scams to come forward, assuring potential whistleblowers that the City's standard is clean governance and good financial practices, compromised officials will face justice.