A bogus “army” leader who targets poor people, charging them R150 for a job in the military, has been taken hostage by angry residents who uncovered the scam.
The drama unfolded right in front of the Daily Voice in Tafelsig this week as the self-styled “Khoison Kingdom and All People Party” (KKAAP) tried to lure locals into their scheme.
A man claiming to be “Colonel Darius Pike” told the applicants they would get a R34 000 once-off payment after completing a three-month training course.
Pike also claimed the KKAAP was set up to “integrate coloured people into the army”.
He added: “We have recruited people in Retreat, Steenberg and all over the Flats and country ready to go into the army.”
Pike told them a bus would pick up would-be soldiers on the Cape Flats on January 31 and take them to a military training base in Bloemfontein.
But his trail of deception was ground to a halt by quick-thinking residents.
They realised they were being conned and decided to set a trap for Pike and his “army”.
When Pike rocked up in Talefsig, he was confronted by angry residents and the cops.
They took him away for questioning – and for his own safety.
“This is not a scam and I did not con anyone,” a desperate Pike yelled as angry people surrounded him in Carmen Cresent, Tafelsig.
His luck ran out after a resident did his own investigating into Pike.
Hilton Matthee says he had a gut feeling that Pike was up to no good.
“I took leave from work and did my own little investigation and staff at the recruitment office of the Defence Force told me that these gentlemen are busy running a scam,” he says.
Hilton, who had paid his R150, demanded his money back and after pressure from the mob, Pike handed over the cash and crossed out a receipt he had handed him.
“You guys really thought you’re gonna take us for a ride,” Hilton shouted at Pike.
Another angry resident, Michael Adonis, shoved an umbrella in Pike’s face, shouting: “You are nothing more than a skelm (thief).”
After more denials from Pike, the community decided to hold him hostage till the police arrived.
The confrontation grew heated but cops arrived in time and constable Amanda September from the community kept tempers from flaring.
Another disappointed woman is 54-year-old Charmaine Persent, who runs a local soup kitchen.
“Pike told me that old age is not a factor when I join the army,” she says.
“All I had to do was to pay my R150 to get on the bus and once I arrive at the military base, I must tell the officers that I’m tired.
“I will then be demoted and still get a R34 000 payout.”
Mitchell’s Plain cops confirmed that Pike and the crew were released on Tuesday night.
However, Hilton and other residents laid fraud charges against Pike and his crew at the police station yesterday.
*This article was published in the Daily Voice