Since the advent of Covid last year, the South African economy, which was already in a decline, saw a further fall, with unemployment now reaching a peak. Locally, the need for assistance regarding food and essentials for those not earning an income, has escalated with local welfare organizations seeing a huge demand in the appeal for assistance. The sad part is even the elderly are being left alone by their own children, who can no longer provide their very own parents with accommodation and food, and are abandoning them to fend for themselves, with the measly pension they receive each month.
Ahmed Arbee, chairperson of Laudium Care Service’s for the Aged (LCSA) told the Laudium Sun, “We have definitely seen an increase in the number of aged people in our area, who require our assistance, compared to about two years back. Many of them are not being taken care of by their own children, due to various reasons, including the children now losing their jobs”.
Many residents desperate for a job, have also reported about scams that they never suspected until it was too late. Anwar ‘Enver’ Khan (53), a resident of Bengal Street, approached the Laudium Sun, this past Tuesday (August 17), with the ordeal he unwittingly experienced. “I have desperately been looking for a job since the lockdown last year. As you know, businesses and the job market have taken a hard knock since Covid, resulting in the unemployment rate being extremely high in South Africa. I then saw an advert about vacancies at the BMW Rosslyn Plant in Pretoria. Like many other applications, I even applied for this one, not even expecting a response, but I still took a chance. But then, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a response. I was told that I needed to do a medical fitness test with their HR manager, and that I should pay R850 for that, which I did. Thereafter, I was told to first fill a form concerning my medical condition. Later, I was told that I have failed the examination. That’s when it dawned on me, that this was a scam, and there was no such job vacancy. After my bad experience, another friend of mine also told me that he was promised a job by BMW and by the same person, a certain Mr Maroga, who claimed to work at the BMW Rosslyn Plant in the HR Department. He told me that Mr Maroga told him that he should bring R1000, for ‘cold-drink’. And that they met at some cafe. It is so shameful that there are people who are taking advantage of our desperate situation in this country. We are desperately trying to find a job and earn an honest living in order to support our families. I really hope that by talking about my bad experience, others who read this article will be warned about such job scams and hopefully not be caught out of pocket, like I was.”
The Laudium Sun journalist then called the said Mr Maroga. Indeed, he confirmed (which was recorded), that he represented BMW and that there were vacancies open, but that the journalist should first send him R1000 through the Shoprite Money Market and that he would then send a reference number and an appointment date to meet their doctor. Maroga also told our journalist that he could send instant cash via Standard Bank on his number, 064 674 3207.
Sphiwe Mbatha, of Human Resources at the BMW Rosslyn Plant, Pretoria, said, “This is a scam. There are no job openings in our company that would demand money upfront for any medical examination. I would like to advise job seekers wanting a position in our company to check our official website to see if there are any jobs being offered, on www.bmwgroup.jobs/za. People should be careful of the many scammers out there.”
