‘I wasn't as cautious as Olorato': Joburg woman shares her close encounters with dating scammer
As South Africans demand answers on the brutal murder of 30-year-old Joburg woman, Olorato Mongale while on a date, IOL has interviewed another Joburg woman, Jabu Nxumalo who was defrauded of R500,000 in a dating scam.
Image: IOL collage
As South Africans reflect over the brutal murder of 30-year-old Joburg woman, Olorato Mongale, police say they are 'on the tail' of Bongani Mthimkulu, the remaining suspect believed to be part of a syndicate that targeted different young women at shopping malls across different provinces.
IOL previously reported that Olorato had met the mysterious man, only identified as 'John', at a shopping mall in Bloemfontein, Free State. The duo met around May, and following days of virtual communication, they agreed to go on a date.
Days later, the man arrived at Olorato's residence in Joburg, and picked her up in a white Volkswagen Polo.
However, having her suspicions about the mystic John, before Olorato was picked up on May 25, she communicated with her friends, alerting them that she was about to go out with the man, and that they should look for her if she vanishes. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
Family spokesperson Criselda Kananda said Olorato had told her friends to search for her should she not send them a message revealing her whereabouts in an hour following her outing.
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'We are devastated by this tragic loss and we ask that you continue to keep her family in your prayers...Her friends began to get worried after two hours passed without Olorato sending them a location. They then activated 'Find My Location', and it led them to a house in Bramley. The friends found her bag and cellphone outside the house,' she said.
National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said several of Mongale's items, such as her phone and handbag, were found discarded on 9th Road in Kew, Johannesburg. Her body was discovered shortly afterwards in the vicinity.
The slain Olorato Mongale.
Image: X
Since last year, IOL has been running the scammed series where several South African women and men have lost their hard-earned money including pensions and bank loans through romance scams. The victims have regrouped and are knocking on different doors, demanding answers.
Some of the scammed women have alleged that they were turned away from different police stations, while several fraud cases opened by the victims have been closed by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
In the majority of the cases, the unsuspecting, love-struck victims did not observe much about the criminals who they 'dated', and many only realised the scam after huge amounts of money were stolen from them and the lover has vanished into thin air.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) requesting Ugandan national Joseph Ssekasi, with aliases including Deon Mundari to come forward after Joburg woman Jabu Nxumalo (left) was scammed of more than R500,000.
Image: IOL collage
One of the scammed victims featured in the IOL series, Jabu Nxumalo said in her vivid recollection, there was nothing amiss when she hooked up with a Joseph Ssekasi on dating site Tinder in 2023.
Reflecting on the fate of Olorato, Jabu praised the former Wits University student's vigilance when planning the date.
'I think it was a very traumatic incident, because the fact that women can't even go on a date anymore is very disturbing and questions the society and the men we live with. If we don't survive the love scam, we end up being killed,' Jabu told IOL.
'Looking back, I'm very grateful to still be alive, because those men could have done God knows what, without anyone knowing what happened to me or where I was. Not even my family knew where the scammer lived, because I wasn't as cautious as Olorato.
'It is very sad that Olorato was cautious and did everything right, but still lost her life. You could tell that she knew what kind of sick world we live in,' said Jabu.
When Jabu met the scammer, she was innocently hoping to get an honest, loving boyfriend when she joined the dating app, Tinder. Soon, she had Ssekasi courting her.
'At the time, he called himself Deron Mundari, and claimed to be from South Sudan. Honestly, there was nothing amiss about the guy,' Nxumalo previously said in an interview with IOL.
'He seemed like a down to earth and a respectful person. Little did I know that he was in this relationship for a paycheck in the name of love.'
IOL has for years reported on several cases of hardworking women, particularly those who are in steady jobs including civil servants, who got scammed of millions of rand by unscrupulous men, who target vulnerable women in the name of dating.
In 2024, IOL reported that a Congolese man, Joseph Hassan Yaye appeared before the Makhado Magistrate's Court after a Limpopo-based woman, a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) was scammed of her pension lump sum.
Congolese national Joseph Hassan Yaye appeared the Makhado Magistrate's Court, after he was arrested for allegedly defrauding a police officer in Limpopo.
Image: SAPS
In Jabu's case, within four months of meeting Ssekasi, the man vanished with her R510,000.
Part of the fraud involved a purported 'ancestor's voice' which instructed Nxumalo to approach different banks and raise R500,000 which she handed over to him at his place in Brakpan. This money, Nxumalo was told, was her contribution in a mysterious investment scheme which involved 'ancestors' and prayers.
After the scam became clear, the emotionally wrecked Jabu was admitted in a psychiatric hospital as she had become suicidal.
'I had not slept for two nights,' she narrated.
'Just a day before I was discharged, I was called by a detective Khumalo from Boksburg police station who wanted us to meet the day after I leave the hospital. I then went with my brother to meet the detective,' Nxumalo said.
'While I was narrating my story, she stopped me and told me that as police, they can only arrest people they know their whereabouts, and that with cases of this nature, there is a low likelihood that a criminal can be sentenced,' she said.
The bubbly Jabu Nxumalo has gathered the pieces of her life, joined hands with other victims, and calls for women to be vigilant at all times.
Image: Supplied
'During our conversation, I showed her the picture of Ssekasi, the person who scammed me. Detective Khumalo did not event take the photo, and to-date she does not have a photo of my scammer, the person SAPS is hoping to catch one day.
'That engagement with the police detective actually depressed me more. I ended up asking detective Khumalo, if she was trying to tell me that there is nothing the police can do to help me,' said Jabu.
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