[imagesource: Lucky Nxumalo]

Patience is a virtue very much in short supply.

We want things we order online delivered the next day, streaming services have done away with in-show adverts, and our attention spans have dwindled to the point where making it through a movie without checking our phones is near impossible.

Then there’s the race to become the youngest this and the youngest that. In terms of South Africa’s youngest millionaire, that may be a poisoned chalice.

Sandile Shezi labelled himself the country’s ‘youngest self-made millionaire’ back in 2015. Fast forward seven years, and he’s facing two counts of fraud and a reputation dragged through the mud.

Not to be outdone, Yamkela Kiviet (above) has taken to calling himself the country’s ‘youngest self-made multimillionaire’.

He has, in the past, bragged about being a serial entrepreneur with business interests that include upmarket restaurants, a student accommodation business, and a funeral parlour.

Last year, Kiviet and gospel star Bishop Benjamin Dube were involved in an alleged failed business deal that left fuming investors more than R8 million out of pocket.

Police began investigating Kiviet’s trucking company, LY Holdings, as a result and the word ‘scam’ has been thrown around.

Now City Press reports that he’s “broke and struggling to pay his business associate more than R190 000 in car rental fees”.

Bernice Fords opened a case of fraud and vehicle theft against Kiviet last week:

Fords alleged that Kiviet was refusing to return a vehicle she rented to him after he claimed to be down and out. At the time, he said he was using e-hailing service Uber to travel…

In September, Kiviet and Fords agreed on a daily lease fee of R1 000 for him to run his errands. She claimed she had not received any money from Kiviet since then.

“I did not get a penny of what we agreed on. What he did instead was to send me a fake payment notification of R30 000 in December.”

Fords says Kiviet is ducking and diving both her and her lawyer and those claims of being a ‘multimillionaire’ don’t tally with his inability to pay for anything.

Worse still, the car Kiviet is using has now racked up traffic fines in three different provinces.

City Press rang Kiviet to ask for comment and he went full ‘Carte Blanche sorry wrong number‘ vibes:

“I am not Yamkela. This is not his cellphone number. I don’t know why a lot of people keep calling this number asking for him.”

His Instagram account, where he is usually very happy to talk about his various ventures, has also gone private.

Perhaps the lesson here is to be wary of those who feel the need to be so vocal about their financial success.

[source:citypress]