Safe with promised riches found empty - KZN man conned by sangoma

31 May 2016 - 19:10 By TMG Digital

A dream of his pension payout miraculously being converted into R4 million by a sangoma lured a KwaZulu-Natal man into chucking up his job. Now he's lost it all.The 34-year-old Verulam resident contacted Reaction Unit South Africa for help after he had been conned out of R140‚000 by a sangoma‚ the company said in a statement.The victim explained that he was employed for 13 years as a welder at a business in Pinetown.After experiencing problems at work‚ he was introduced to a sangoma in the Verulam CBD during October 2015.At the initial consultation‚ the sangoma claimed that the employee's life was in danger as someone at his place of work had used traditional medicine which would make him sick and eventually result in his death.The sangoma instructed the victim that if he wanted to live‚ then he should leave work. He also questioned him over the value of his provident fund.The man resigned from his job in December 2015 and continued consulting with the sangoma."On one visit‚ the sangoma showed the victim a large box filled with R100 notes. He explained that if the victim wanted‚ he could convert R140‚000 of his pension payout into 4 million rands. The victim withdrew R100‚000 and then a further R40‚000 and handed it over to the sangoma who claimed that he was going to perform a ritual with the money‚ which was going to grow in value."The sangoma then allegedly put the money into a safe and handed the safe over to the victim. The sangoma kept the key with him‚ stating that the safe can only be opened around May 2016‚ once all rituals were completed."On Monday‚ the former welder called the sangoma‚ who informed him that he has been arrested and needed R5‚000 for bail."If the money was sent to him‚ then he would return to the victim's home where he would open the safe and complete a ritual which will fill the safe with cash."At last‚ the man realised that something was amiss.He loaded the safe‚ which was sealed in its original packaging‚ into his vehicle and drove to RUSA’s Verulam Operations Centre. Reaction Officers looked into the safe through small mounting holes and confirmed it to be empty.The victim claimed to have known that the safe was empty but felt embarrassed to inform his family that he had been duped.Reaction Unit South Africa has warned the public on several occasions to be wary when parting with their cash‚ saying it had dealt with several cases where sangomas had extorted large amounts of money from their unsuspecting victims...

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