Rendani Makhado (24) lifts a cupped palm to her eyes for a moment’s respite from the harsh Limpopo sun. She frowns, then once more rests her gaze on the document in front of her. “No, that isdefinitelynot my signature,” the young mother confirms, this time with a more pointed shake of the head.
not my signature,” the young mother confirms, this time with a more pointed shake of the head. Daily Maverick has come to Rendani’s house in Dididi village, one of several settlements dotted around Thohoyandou’s Nandoni dam. The document we asked her to inspect is a payment sheet for an employment scheme managed by the Collen Mashawana Foundation (CMF) on behalf of the Independent Development Trust (IDT), a government entity tasked with delivering social development and infrastructure projects.
Businessman Collen Mashawana and his charitable foundation featured in Daily Maverick’s explosive recent video sting exposé. The payment sheet, meanwhile, was meant to unlock critical financial relief for Rendani and her family. But the signature next to her name does not belong to her, nor did she receive the corresponding salary.
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For Rendani and scores more Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers from the area, the form now represents only bitter disappointment. In August 2024, Rendani and some 1,800 other unemployed South Africans across five provinces signed employment contracts with the CMF. The CMF, in turn, had obtained a contract from the IDT to manage the initiative.
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