Currently, according to KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for finance Nomusa Dube-Ncube Quarter 2 of 2020, the height of the lockdown, was a particularly damaging time for the KZN economy. During this period, she said the provincial GDP growth rate fell by a ‘devastating’ 51.6%.—highlighting the largest negative contributors to the growth rate in the second quarter of 2020 were mining and quarrying, which contracted by 75.5%.
Such is the current state of affairs that Dube-Ncube added the rapid increase in liquidations has led to a distressing rise in the unemployment rate, which is currently estimated at 47.5% in KwaZulu-Natal.
With this in mind, criminals have been using these hard times to their advantage. This follows a fake Facebook post being circulated stating Buffalo Coal Mine in Dundee has a range of vacancies available. These positions include openings for general workers, admin clerks, receptionists and even security guards.
However, in a statement, Buffalo Coal Mine states, “Beware of the Buffalo Coal Recruitment Scam! Certain websites and individuals are claiming to be recruiting for Buffalo Coal and in some cases soliciting money from the public for jobs. We are in no way associated with these activities. We only recruit from our careers portal or our in-house talent acquisition, and HR teams and an application would not attract any fee.”
Looking at the actual social media post, the perpetrators went as far as to create an almost legitimate-looking email address. However, it is essential to point out, on a closer look, the spelling will reveal that the word ‘company’ in the email address is incorrectly spelt. Additionally, the mining company will not use a Gmail account.
During these trying times, job seekers are urged to practise caution when attempting to secure employment. Legitimate companies will not require you to secure employment through any form of monetary exchange.
What are your thoughts on the villainous actions of scam artists? Are you aware of other scams Newcastillians should be conscious of?
Share your thoughts and views with us in the comment section below.
Authors: Quinton Boucher and Calvin Swemmer
Edited: Calvin Swemmer
Comments 1
Good day
Please can you do an article on road painting. I got a quote for 10 m white paint for a driveway R380.00 . In Hardwick street ,by the robots by the cemetry they painted road markings about 2 weeks ago and the paint looks like it is coming off. In places they have not even painted arrows . I cannot even think that someone is not inspecting the work or the quality of the painted sections and this will have to be redone at an excessive cost.