Gullible Zimbabweans are losing money to rings of conmen (07-08-07)

sition by the South African government that it would soon recruit science and mathematics teachers from that country to enhance education of science subjects at local schools.

With the government still mulling on the exercise, bogus recruiters con their victims into believing that they can speedily facilitate this.

In an interview with CAJ News on Tuesday (yesterday), Zimbabwe Diaspora Civil Society (CSOs) Forum Co-ordinator, Norah Tapiwa, said they have received numerous reports about Zimbabwean teachers being conned by these unscrupolous” human traffickers.

“It is sad that teachers are so desperate to get employment that they get conned,” said Tapiwa.

The Zimbabwe Diaspora CSOs Forum is the mother body of all Zimbabwean civil society organisations operating in the Republic of South Africa.

Hillbrow police spokesperson, Captain Bheki Mavundla, couyld not immediately give a comment as he wanted more time to check on his facts.

It has also emerged that bogus cross border transporters, some who illegal drive Zimbabwean nationals into South Africa, are conning desperate Zimbabweans to pay in advance for accommodation in properties that do not exist at all in South Africa.

Pretoria-based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum director, Gabriel Shumba, who slammed the practice, said several victims had brought the reports to their attention.

“ZEF has discovered that some Zimbabweans are even conned to pay in advance for accommodation in South Africa, which turns out to be government houses that are still being constructed. Zimbabweans end up being chased out and in most instances deported,” he said.

Shumba said the deteriorating economic situation in Zimbabwe had made its nationals vulnerable to conmen.
Since most of the conned are illegal immigrants, it becomes difficult for them to report the cases to police, officials said.

Thousands of Zimbabweans are illegally crossing the leaky border into South Africa to flee the malaise that has been worsened by the shortage of basic commodities after government ordered business to halve their prices in order to contain runaway inflation- CAJ News.