THE Greater Giyani Municipality has issued a second warning to business owners and managers about an ongoing tender scam that targets businesses on the municipality’s database.
The municipality issued the first warning last week, warning against a tender advert that is currently circulating by e-mail to business owners.
The advert, which is purported to be from the Greater Giyani Municipality, requires bidders to bid for the supply of 25 air eco purifiers to the municipality, which cost around R2 000 each. The advertisement also provides a website address where people can view the type of purifier they need.
According to municipal spokesperson, Steve Mavunda, several victims of this scam have come forward and claimed to have lost large amounts of money between R89 000 and R189 000.
Mavunda said after the businesses applied for the tender, they were informed that their bid was approved and they were then directed to buy the supposed air purifiers from a certain service provider.
“The bidders were told that there was a specific service provider that could provide the required equipment at very low prices. This would have looked like a bargain to the entrepreneurs. The service provider asked for payment upfront and then disappeared without a trace,” he explained.
“We want to put it on record that, although these adverts might look authentic, they are invalid, illegal, and fraudulent. We want to warn people to be on the lookout for such online adverts,” he said urging people to verify any tenders that they see advertised with the municipality before submitting their bids.
Mavunda said the adverts were sent by somebody called Themba Ndaba, which was probably a false name. He said nobody by that name worked for the municipality.
He urged victims of the scam to open cases with the police to ensure the scamsters were brought to justice.
