WeeklySA_AdminTYME’S MONEY:Hungry Limpopo pensioner duels with billionaire Motsepe’s digital bank after he lost his R2 180 grant in online fraud
By Sy Makaringe
A month after the multibillionaire Patrice Motsepe-backed TymeBank proudly declared it was “now at a stage of sustained profitability”, an elderly Limpopo customer and his family went to bed hungry for days after his TymeBank account was cleaned out by cybercriminals.
The bank has refused to reimburse 60-year-old Richard Mitileni after his meagre R2 180 old-age social grant was fraudulently withdrawn from his TymeBank account the night before the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) June 4 payday, leaving him and his family with no money to buy food. The sexagenarian blames the bank’s “seemingly weak and vulnerable online banking systems” for the fraud. On May 7 African Rainbow Capital (ARC), TymeBank’s parent company majority owned by Motsepe, proudly announced it expected the digital bank, the first of its kind in South Africa, to achieve “sustainable profitability by June [this year] after breaking even”.
ARC also boasted that the bank, which was launched in 2019, now had 12,6 million customers, 9,4 million in South Africa and 3,2 million in the Philippines, where it trades under the GoTyme brand. The company also reported it was growing at the rate of 450 000 customers a month. The bank’s model combines digital channels with instore kiosks at major retailers such as Pick n Pay and Boxer supermarkets as well as outlets in the Foschini Group.
But the news of TymeBank’s success was cold comfort for Mitileni of Tomu Village, outside Giyani, who was devastated when several attempts to draw his grant money at a local spaza shop to buy food for his family failed as, unbeknown to him, his bank account had been emptied by a fraudster or fraudsters. With his paltry state pension benefits, the sexagenarian helps to support his unemployed sister Sarah (45), brother Victor (50) and nephew Legend (14). The cybercriminals hacked his account and performed several transactions, three of which were executed on the night SASSA deposited his grant money into his account.
After a 10-day investigation, TymeBank sent Mitileni an SMS saying only: “Your fraud claim is resolved and has been declined.”
On being approached by Weekly SA Mirror, the bank released a more detailed statement in which it absolved itself from blame, saying: “We have concluded our investigation and could not find any wrongdoing on the bank’s part; the transactions were performed using your TymeBank internet banking. We also have evidence that your credentials were used to make the transactions. It remains your responsibility to protect your account.
“We were unable to secure any funds, as the funds were already debited from your account at the time when you reported the matter to TymeBank. The disputed transactions took place before your account was stopped. In view of the foregoing, we regrettably advise that the bank will not reimburse you,” TymeBank told Mitileni.
The unmarried father of two vehemently disputed the bank’s assertion and insisted his TymeBank account was hacked. He said he had never registered his account for internet banking as he was incapable of performing intricate online transactions owing to his lack of computer literacy.
“I’ve never used a computer in my entire life, neither have I owned a smart phone. My cellphone is one of those cheap, entry-level devices that are only used to make and receive calls, nothing more.
“Being also technologically illiterate, how on earth did I perform all these intricate online banking transactions they say I performed? It’s absurd,” he said. He said TymeBank should instead focus on the real culprit, not blame him.
“One of my nephews based in Gauteng used the truecaller app on the number used to siphon money from my account and found that it belonged to a young woman who lives in Germiston but studies in the Vaal, about 500-600km away.
“I have never been to those places, neither do I know anyone there, let alone the woman who hacked my bank account. This is the person the bank must go after, not blame me,” said Mitileni.
He has since asked the bank to disable all online features from his account. “I had not asked for these in the first place as I do not know how to use them. I use my bank card strictly for cash transactions,” said Mitileni.
He was, however, adamant he would not close his TymeBank account and migrate to another bank. “Despite what has happened to me, I still admire Motsepe and what he has achieved. He is an inspiration to a lot of young people,” he concluded.
Weekly SA Mirror sent a WhatsApp message to the number of the phone used to clean out Mitileni’s account. The owner of the phone did not respond to the message or answer our subsequent calls.
With a net worth of more than R56 billion, Motsepe is the third richest businessman in South Africa after Johann Rupert (R188 billion) and Nicky Oppenheimer (R160 billion).
Backed by his billions, Motsepe has turned Mamelodi Sundowns into a star-studded football club that has overtaken Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs to become the country’s soccer powerhouse and a leading soccer club on the Continent. On the back of his club’s success, Motsepe was parachuted to the pinnacle of African football when he was elected president of the Confederation of African Football in 2021.
Motsepe and his wife, Precious, are prominent philanthropists in the country. Through their Motsepe Foundation, they have contributed millions to just causes, including in the education sector. He owns TymeBank through ARC, a subsidiary of Ubuntu-Botho Investments he founded in 2003.
Mitileni has since lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman for Banking Services disputing the findings of TymeBank’s investigators, saying they were incapable of producing a credible report as they were playing the roles of “referee and player at the same time”.
On Wednesday this week, TymeBank handed over a cheque for R2 million in recognition of the national women’s team’s commendable performance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup tournament in Australia and New Zealand last year.
