Fraud Probe at Durban Old Age Home

Police are probing fraud at the KwaMashu Christian Care Society.

• The water supply to the KwaMashu Christian Care Society home was cut last week after the home failed to pay water bills.
• The management of the home is in disarray and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development has given it 30 days to fix its financial problems or face deregistration.
• Police have launched a fraud probe.
• Meanwhile elderly residents are having to fetch water in buckets to wash and flush toilets.

The future of the 101 residents at the KwaMashu Christian Care Society home hangs in the balance. The water supply was cut last week after the home failed to pay water bills. Police are probing a case of fraud.

Elderly residents are having to fetch water in buckets from rainwater tanks to wash and flush toilets. According to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development, the society owes the eThekwini Municipality more R2-million for services, including water and electricity.

On Thursday last week, MEC for Social Development Mbali Shinga made an unannounced visit to the home, which houses elderly people, some able-bodied, some blind and some totally reliant on staff assistance.

The MEC’s visit was prompted by reports of disarray within the organisation. The bank account has been frozen and police are investigating allegations of fraud.

KwaMashu Christian Care Society is a faith-based organisation founded in 1984. It provides care, support and spiritual guidance services for families, and runs the home.

Shinga said the department would try to help but the problems were internal to the organisation.

Departmental spokesperson Thuba Vilane said a representative of the Gugu Dlamini Foundation had been appointed in April to run the home while problems were being solved. The Foundation is also based in KwaMashu and is also funded by the department.

“It is someone we can trust to keep the organisation operational while we try to resolve their issues,” Vilane said.

He said officials from the department were negotiating with the municipality to allow the organisation to pay its debt in instalments.

The KwaMashu Christian Care Society had been given 30 days to get their house in order, failing which the department would write to the national department to recommend it be deregistered, Vilane said.

KwaZulu Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda told GroundUp that a case of fraud had been opened at KwaMashu Police Station after a complaint that church funds had been stolen between March 2022 and March 2023.

Sikhona Khuluse, one of the board members at the organisation, confirmed to GroundUp that there had been mismanagement of funds, dating back to 2022. “There are a lot of issues, and the frustrating thing is that the person who is supposed to account for them cannot be reached. This has caused division within the board. We are also waiting for the findings from the Department of Social Development’s investigation so we can determine the way forward.”

GroundUp tried to contact the chairperson of the organisation, Bheki Mkhize, but he did not answer his phone.

Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana would not confirm the R2-million debt. “We do not discuss account information with third parties in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act,” she said. Sisilana said officials would liaise directly with the organisation.

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