The case of Nzuzo Njilo and Kwanda Ntshangase seems to be growing legs. As it stands, the businessman and son of former Msunduzi Local Municipality mayor, Themba Njilo, is being accused of masquerading as a salesman selling a truck in May 2021. The unsuspecting buyer went and physically viewed the truck at the dealership in Boksburg and later paid the two a substantial amount of money. The two were arrested and Njilo was released on a R30 000 bail while Ntshangase was granted R3 000 bail. Businessman Luntu Maxengwana who was named as a business man involved in one of Nzuzo's bad deals, has since come forward to clear his name.

A BUSINESS DEAL GONE WRONG?

Luntu tells ZiMoja that he met Nzuzo through a mutual friend. "I wanted to get into the logistics business while I was still in Joburg, he seemed to be the perfect person. Nzuzo advised me that I should find someone with a truck and that he would use it for business, to transport coal for the mining industry,' he says. "I did that and found Samkelo Gwala. In this deal, I was going to be the middle man, so every month I would get a commission of R30 000 for my company.' Luntu says after the deal was made, Nzuzo had keys to the truck, but he never got paid for the first month. "Sometime later, Mala Gwarube called me to say that the truck was in fact hers and not  Samkelo, who later broke out of the deal and now it was myself, Mala, and Nzuzo.' The Durban-based businessman says that Nzuzo informed him that the business was not doing well. "He claimed for three months that the truck was not moving. Mala called me to say that she can see the truck is moving and she listed a number of places that her tracker had been following. But money was not coming through.' 

CUT OUT OF THE DEAL?

Luntu says this happened for three months, and he was not receiving his cut yet the truck was operational. "I continued trying to call Nzuzo and Mala, who both stopped taking my calls and blocked my number. I realised that I had been cut out of the deal. Nzuzo and Mala were now doing business together, "he says. "People get cut out of deals all the time, it's not personal. But they could have said something. Nzuzo owes me for my commission but I decided to drop everything when I realised it was a business deal gone wrong and another lesson learned.'

ALSO A VICTIM?

Mala recently told ZiMoja that she was scammed by both Nzuzo and Luntu. But Luntu maintains that, hee too, is a victim of Nzuzo's scams. "When Mala cut me out of the deal, it meant I could not assist her to get the truck back. I have not changed my number. I relocated to Durban, and she could have arranged to meet up with me. I was also never paid my commission by Nzuzo. I know that he definitely made money because she would see the truck moving in Richards Bay and other places. But he would lie and say it's not moving.' Luntu says that on top of that, he tried to sell the truck. "Where did he get Mala's number to contact her? They had a relationship that I know nothing about. They did not call me. I am not hiding, I am in Durban and she can open a case and this needs to stand in court and the law takes its course. As for me, I need my name cleared from the entire mess,' Luntu says. "I have sent Mala a letter from my lawyers asking that she remove posts implicating me or I will take legal action, but she hasn't. I work with youth development companies and this is really damaging my reputation. I tried to deal with this matter internally, but she messed up when she cut me out of the deal. Myself and Nzuzo are not partners. It was only that once-off transaction. I can't say I made a bad decision but it's a decision that went wrong. I realised that I am dealing with a scammer.' Nzuzo has not been available for comment.