The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has advised residents to be on the lookout for bogus estate agents claiming to be selling housing stands saying many people have fallen victim to the fraudsters.
Mente Ndlovu, an official in the council’s engineering services department, made the warning during one of the local authority’s 2013 budget consultation meetings held at Njube Hall on Sunday.
He said the problem was now prevalent each time council announced that it would be releasing stands for sale to residents on the housing waiting list.
“We have received quite a number of reports of people who got cheated by these bogus dealers who later disappear after selling non-existent stands,” Ndlovu said.
“You must be very careful that at each time when the council releases or sells stands, some people advertise as selling stands as well.
“You must come to council if you want a stand. As we speak there is someone I know who bought a ‘stand’ from a person who advertised in the media.
“Since he paid the money, that person he paid to has disappeared and the money is gone.”
This year the local authority is expecting to allocate over 3 000 stands to residents who are on its waiting list mostly in the high-density areas. The waiting list stands at about 100 000.
