The entrepreneur from Leonsdale who was accused of pocketing her clients’ Christmas hamper geld says she is now able to pay them back.
Leshme de Bruyn, the founder of Miss L hair-care products, admitted earlier this week that she wouldn’t be able to deliver the luxury hampers which she was selling for R2 300.
Leshme was the talk of the town after she claimed thousands of rands paid by her customers was stolen from her bag while she was writing an exam at Northlink’s Tygerberg Campus.
According to the business owner, she only realised the money was gone while she was travelling in a taxi on her way to go and buy the goodies for the hampers.
Leshme said her clients didn’t believe her and some even came to her home to “harass and threaten” her.
Leshme contacted the Daily Voice on Thursday, this time to say she had managed to borrow kroon from a money lender and had started paying back her clients.
Leshme says: “Since the incident, I told the people that I’m looking for someone to help me and I got somebody through someone that I know, a money lender who will borrow the money in her name.”
Without disclosing the amount, Leshme said she would compensate all her clients in cash.
She explains: “I want them to sign and then I will give all of them a slip to say that they have received their money.
“The people are excited that they are going to get their money back and some of them apologised for attacking me last week.”
A client who asked not to be named says she is glad Leshme kept her promise: “Ek het toe my geld gekry van Leshme, my volle payout.”
Meanwhile, the article shared on the Daily Voice’s Facebook page racked up over 831 comments.
Miche Mimi Adams said: “A whole R29 000 that she needs to pay back for those 13 clients. Die kin lieg man. She could have at least come up with a better story than this.”
Leshme insists she is not a skelm, saying: “Sometimes bad things happen to good people and an accident is just an accident.”
“Not one of the people in the hamper commented something on social media. It is people that I don’t know saying these ugly things.”