Pretoria - The hopes of former students of IT Training Corporation getting any of their money back after it closed unexpectedly on July 8 have been dashed.
Liquidators have finally been appointed to wind things up.
After weeks of uncertainty following the abrupt closure of the college in Centurion with no warning to students, notice was circulated that liquidators had been appointed.
A formal notice posted on the ITTC Facebook group detailed how the Kaap-Vaal Trust had been officially appointed as liquidators for the school and would be handling the matter from now on.
Former student Leandi Mollentze said they had verified that the institution was being liquidated and the matter would possibly be concluded next year. “We don’t have much information but they are handling the matter. It does not seem like any of the students will be able to recoup any of the money they lost.
“I’ve spoken to the sister of the owner and she told me there are no company assets or anything from his personal estate to salvage. At this point we just have to take what we get and move on with our lives,” said Mollentze.
The Pretoria News first reported on the college’s closure on July 25 after numerous students came forward about money they had paid into the school’s account days before its closure.
Jason Belt, a former student, said he paid R11 422 into the account on June 22. He only noticed something was amiss when he could not log in online or find the school’s website.
“I phoned the school and found an automated message saying they had closed. I only realised on July 8 that the school’s website was no longer live,” he said at the time.
Another post was circulated on Facebook stating that the school had been reopened under Konekt IT and was offering students a chance to register with them for half of the price paid to ITTC.
The company, alleged to have been started by a former employee of the school, angered students as they feared that more students were in danger of being scammed.
Speaking to the Pretoria News, Martin Nhleko, the owner of Konekt IT and former consultant for ITTC, said he was not trying to scam students but only trying to help them following the announcement that the school was being liquidated.
“Yes, I posted (on Facebook) on the group informing them that I had found a way for them to continue with their studies through other service providers but they started saying negative things about me so I just ignored them,” Nhleko said.
“No service provider is going to offer them those courses for free; that is just being unrealistic. I know they were left hard done by and all I was trying to do was get them a good deal under my own company.”
Nhleko said his company was legal since its inception in 2014 and he was upset by false allegations made that he had been involved in the scam that led to ITTC’s financial crisis after it was cheated of R1.6 million.
“I didn’t threaten anyone. I just let them know that I would not let them tarnish my reputation without any proof. I’m a businessman and have been conducting my business way before the school got into financial crisis,” he said.
“I told them to remove my name from their Facebook posts because it was defamation and I was not going to take that.”
Pretoria News