A former girlfriend of an unidentified man who claimed to be an acquaintance of Philangenkosi Makhanya, the deceased suspect in the Olorato Mongale murder case, has also come out and implicated the man as being part of a syndicate targeting women.

Mary* (not her real name) says she too was also able to identify the man through the sound of his voice whilst being interviewed by SABC News. This was after Makhanya was fatally shot in a shootout with police at this man’s flat in Amanzimtoti in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday last week.

“The thing that made me pay attention more to the issue of Olorato was when you interviewed this guy, the owner of the flat. I recognised the voice. I said ‘I know this voice. And I know how manipulative this guy is’,” she says.

For the five months that Mary was in a romantic relationship with this unidentified man, she not only got to know his voice as she alleges. But she was also able to witness incidences that convinced her he is allegedly involved in the so-called Romantic Dating Scam.

How this scam works is that the scammers pretend to like or fall in love with young, working, women they find on Instagram. And once the young ladies agree to go out on a date with them, they kidnap and then rob them off money and cellphones in particular iPhones.

She recalls visiting the man at his Amanzimtoti flat for the first time.

“He came back into the house. He was having many iPhones. He would take the batch of some iPhones, go with them. He will be like I am coming back. And I was so concerned to see what happens to the iPhones. I saw the iPhones, there was a box with many iPhones, some were brand new,” she adds.

Police also confirmed that after Makhanya was fatally shot inside the Amanzimtoti flat, they found close to 30 ID smart cards and 20 cellphones in his possession.

Mary and Jessica, another victim of this scam, both confirmed that the alleged perpetrator drove a red Beijing car.

“When he came into the city he said, he wanted to buy a car. He bought a car, a red Beijing, bought this car from Midrand,” says Mary.

“He is driving this Chinese car, a Beijing or whatever. A red Beijing,” says Jessica.

Mary says the tipping point was when she witnessed the man allegedly bribing police officers to release a blood-stained vehicle of his close friend whose name is known to SABC from a police station in Ekurhuleni.

She claims the man’s friend who uses a false name is also involved in the scam.

“After paying the bribe they released, they took the car to be cleaned of the blood,” she says.

Mary also confirmed Jessica’s statement that the man worked with other women when allegedly committing the crimes.

Jessica spoke about a man driving a red Beijing vehicle who came to pick her up for their date, accompanied by another woman whom the man claimed was his younger sister.

Mary also mentioned one particular woman whose name is also known to SABC News.

“He was always with this girl, always. Everywhere he goes he is gonna be with this girl. At some point, he would go with her when they go to rob women,” says Mary.

Despite the man’s insistence that he was not involved in the scam, she believes the months they spent together was long enough to convince her he was.

“I still believe that he is the one who killed Olorato. I don’t believe is Makhanya,” she says.

Police say they are closing in on arresting Bongani Mthimkulu, the suspect was being sought together with the now deceased Makhanya for Olorato’s murder. – By Jayde-Leigh Pulse and Tshepo Phagane

EXCLUSIVE | Victim of syndicate implicated in Olorato Mongale’s murder speaks out: