MoMo vendor accused of E30 000 theft
PIGG’S PEAK – An MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) vendor based at the Pigg’s Peak Bus Rank is accused of having stolen money amounting over E30 000 from unsuspecting customers and members of the public.
Some of the people the MoMo vendor is alleged to have robbed are other MoMo vendors and public transport workers.
This has allegedly been going on since last year, according to sources at the rank.
Things came to a head yesterday when Pigg’s Peak public transport workers decided to take up the matter with MTN Eswatini and the Pigg’s Peak Town Council.
Yesterday morning, the public transport workers convened a meeting at the bus rank, next to the MoMo vendor’s stall, who had not shown up for work.
The public transport workers’ initial plan was to march to the MTN regional outlet in Pigg’s Peak and the town council to voice out their complaint over the alleged fraudulent acts of the MoMo vendor. The transport workers called the town council and MTN Eswatini, and asked officials of the two entities to send officials to listen to their grievances and thereafter report to their superiors. Pigg’s Peak Town Council’s Market Master, Lavenah Vilakati and Public Relations Officer (PRO) Phumaphi Msweli, were first to arrive at the scene.
Defrauded
The public transport workers took turns explaining how the MoMo vendor allegedly defrauded clients and the public of their money.
The most common way she allegedly stole from customers was when they had come to deposit money into their MoMo accounts.
According to the public transport workers, the MoMo vendor would usually tell her customers that the network was, at that point in time, down and would deposit the money into their accounts once it had been restored.
Some of the victims were present at the meeting. Sakhi Zikalala informed officials from the town council that the MoMo vendor allegedly swindled him E1 500, while Zethu Mkhabela complained that she stole allegedly E900 from her. An elderly man, who only identified himself as Dlamini, accused the MoMo vendor of stealing his E600.
The market master thanked the transport workers for working with them in bringing to light those who were robbing the public.
“We thought the MoMo service was essential at the bus rank because many people got help through it. Some of your customers who do not have bus fare are able to call friends and family members who deposit money for them through the MoMo platform at the bus rank,” said Vilakati.
She said all bus rank businesses were given the nod by the town council, because they were important in servicing the public. She made an example of those selling fruits and sweets, saying they were also important in cases where a diabetic person at the bus rank needed such food products to boost their sugar levels.
“The fact that you have taken the decision to report the matter means it has escalated to another level. We advise those who had been robbed to officially open a case with the police,” she said. Vilakati said they had attended the meeting to record the public transport workers’ grievances and report back to their superiors. She said they were aware that the public transport workers were said to have reported the matter several times without getting any help.
Wanted
Meanwhile, the MoMo vendor is said to be also wanted in places such as Ndzingeni, where she allegedly robbed other customers.
Some sources from the public transport workers claimed that the MoMo vendor would, at times, borrow money in form of credit, using unsuspecting elderly people’s cellphones to then transfer to her personal MoMo account.
The public transport workers said it was best that she was removed from conducting business at the bus rank as other aggrieved people might end up hurting her.