Mr South Africa 2021 contestant Sinethemba Dleke is the centre of an alleged fraud scandal. Image via Facebook: Sinethembe Dleke
‘I want my money’: Mr SA finalist accused of scamming stokvel members
Cases of fraud have been opened against Sinethemba Dleke who allegedly defrauded more than 200 people from a farming stokvel.
Mr South Africa 2021 contestant Sinethemba Dleke is the centre of an alleged fraud scandal. Image via Facebook: Sinethembe Dleke
Mr South Africa 2021 contestant Sinethemba Dleke is the centre of an alleged fraud scandal after he was accused of taking money from investors and leaving them stranded. According to SowetanLive, about 292 people invested in Dleke’s farming stokvel, SD Farmlink, but they have not seen any returns on their hard-earned money.
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SOCIAL MEDIA USERS SPEAK OUT ABOUT SINETHEMBA DLEKE
Sinethemba Dleke’s farming stokvel started in 2020 and after entering Mr South Africa the following year, the venture gained momentum. Several social media users have taken to Facebook to call out the Eastern Cape native for allegedly taking their money.
“I never thought I’ll be scammed in my life. My judgement failed me this time. It looks pretty legit, doesn’t it? SD Farmlink account is reported as fraud so their accounts are frozen,” wrote Asithandile Qekeka on 20 July.
“He’s not responding to my emails and WhatsApp. Comments are switched off on his posts.”
SowetanLive reported that one woman got a R200 000 loan for Dleke’s farming stokvel.
“This has affected me badly. I am a new mom who needs all the money I can. I just want my money back.”
MR SOUTH AFRICA RESPONDS
Cases of fraud have been opened against Sinethemba Dleke and the Mr South Africa organisation has distanced itself from the scandal.
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on Dleke. He did not progress to a stage where we deal with contestants on a closer level.”
“This [fraud claims] are also coming to our attention while he is no longer in our competition. Sadly, given these circumstances, there would have been no means for us to vet against, predict or do a background check into something like this during the time he was in our competition.”
‘ONE-SIDED STORY’?
Sinethemba Dleke was approached for a comment on the alleged scandal but refused to comment.
“You can run that one-sided story. I will give a detailed one with both sides and facts and proof to someone else,” he told SowetanLive.
