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• Fed-up with exploitation

This is exactly what happened to Ketlamoreng Mafoyane of Vista Park in Bloemfontein, Free State.

Mafoyane was shocked when Van de Venter Mojapelo Incorporated (VVM) called to tell him that he owed a bank money.

VVM is a specialist debt recovery and revenue management operation.

Mafoyane says First National Bank set VVM on him when he failed to pay an overdraft of R8,200 on his account before he moved to another bank.

"When the account was no longer active, I arranged with FNB to repay the money in installments, but the bank handed my account over to VVM instead," he said.

In December last year, he offered to pay R500 a month, he says.

Some months he doubled his repayment , but the bank still handed over his account to VVM's attorneys without discussing it with him.

"Because I did not want their attorneys to nag me, I raised the money and paid off the balance of R6,200," he said.

"I deposited the money into the account using the same number and the reference number I was given, but a week later I was told I owed R16,000," Mafoyane said.

He said he called FNB to demand answers, but he was referred to VVM's attorneys instead.

He said there was no need for them to have referred his account to VVM because he had been paying the money.

"Those attorneys are ripping me off," he says.

Consumer Line is in possession of Mafoyane's deposit slip, showing that R6,200 had been deposited.

VVM, however, only deposited R500 into his FNB account. This amount was only paid on June 26, which was 10 days after Mafoyane had paid his debt in full.

Johandie Wahl, the complaints manager at VVM attorneys, is investigating Mafoyane's complaint. He promised to get answers from FNB by 9am on Friday, but by the time of going to print, Wahl had not responded.