Firefighters in Ladysmith, approximately 365 kilometres south of Johannesburg, were called to Sphelele “Sgumza” Mbatha’s house on Wednesday afternoon after several angry citizens set the building on fire. An anonymous source told TimesLIVE that victims were taking the law into their own hands because Mbatha was unreachable. Mbatha operated Bitcoin Wallet, a company which reportedly enticed victims to invest in exchange for easy and big returns on investments. Earlier this week, Mbatha told the Ladysmith Gazette that he didn’t have any more cash to pay out to clients. The same outlet confirmed on July 9 that Mbatha had not been arrested, despite rumours on social media. Reports about potential wrongdoing surfaced in June after several local outlets spoke about a possible cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
