Langa police have warned the public of a suspected scam in which people are promised money from the UN-SwissIndo, M1 voucher system.
When Vukani received calls about this, our reporter went out to Langa to investigate on Thursday June 21.
At Zondi Block D, in Langa, Vukani witnessed a group of people collecting ID numbers and taking photographs, promising that the respondents would get vouchers from a non-governmental organisation linked to the United Nations (UN).
On the side, photographers with mobile printers were charging R15 for photocopies and R10 for pictures.
People were queueing to get inside the hall.
When police arrived, one of those involved, assured them that respondents to the recruitment drive would receive up to R13 000 “until they die”.
“I am glad that the police are here. We have been waiting for such a moment. This is everywhere in the country. Everyone is entitled to it,” said Noxolo Majola.
When Vukani tried to contact her boss, a man by the name of Diaku Diaanzenza, who described himself as the initiative’s “continental co-ordinator” said the money had been left by the late American president John F Kennedy to feed the poor and that no one had known about it until some UN officials discovered it.
He claimed it had been meant for the people of Indonesia at first but when officials noticed that there was poverty all over the world, they extended the reach of the programme.
When Vukani pressed him for further details, he changed his story before cutting the call.
“This was supposed to be secret because there is no money yet,” he said. “It should be between families and close relatives and not the public until money is there,” he added before ending the call.
Langa police spokesperson Captain Nondumiso Paul said they would investigate the authenticity of the programme and warned people not to fall for scams. “Our commercial crimes unit will have to look at it,” she said.
While Captain Paul was unable to confirm whether the M1 voucher was a scam or not, she said it was unlikely that any organisation would pay huge sums of money out of the blue.
Back at Zondi Block D, some respondents remained hopeful that they’d get their share of the money while others felt they had been duped, and left.
While results of an online search for “UN SwissIndo M1 voucher” describe it as a “lifetime basic income” for the people of Indonesia, meant to free “the world of the the debt slavery system”, there is, nothing to indicate that it is a legitimate scheme.