Mel Viljoen opens ANOTHER BackaBuddy campaign, under ‘alias’
· The South African
BackaBuddy has shut down another crowdfunding campaign initiated by Mel Viljoen, the wife of criminally accused former attorney Peet Viljoen.
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This time around, the blonde woman appealed for public donations via an alias.
Peet is appearing in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, where his formal bail application is underway.
The 57-year-old is facing 400 charges, including fraud, forgery and perjury relating to a 2010 property corruption scandal.
MEL VILJOEN STARTS ANOTHER BACKABUDDY CAMPAIGN
Just hours after her first BackaBuddy campaign was shut down, Mel Viljoen launched another. But this time, Mel used an alias as a way to seemingly dupe the public.
Her crowdfunding campaign, called “Defence Fund Peet”, aimed to raise R400 000 to supposedly cover the disbarred attorney’s legal fees.
The campaign claimed to have been started by “Tammy van Merwe”, but was listed under Mel Viljoen’s name as the organiser.
On the X platform, South Africans were amused at Mel’s devious plans.
@Mydali_Lebeko: “Is she aware that her real name appears there? 🤦🏽♀️🤣🤣🤣”
@Karabzgirl: “They don’t call her ‘Die Hard’ for nothing. She wants to scam us by fire or by force😅😅😅”.
@kirstblair: “The desperation is palpable! So much for ‘we’ve got millions in South Africa!’ 👀”
@Marcia______: “They might as well open Capitec account and post their account number 😭😭”
😂😂😂 The tenacity of Mel Viljoen is next level. So she just started another BackaBuddy campaign 3 hours ago. I give up!😂 https://t.co/463rfw1pjX pic.twitter.com/BY9Fo31H1Q
— Bianca van Wyk (@BiancavanWyk16) July 7, 2026
NOTHING TO DO WITH CRIMINAL CHARGES
In a statement to The South African, BackaBuddy confirmed that it had shut down all campaigns linked to Peet and Mel Viljoen.
The crowdfunding organisation stated that this was due to an internal review, in line with their terms and conditions and platform standards. It denied any connection to Peet’s criminal charges or the couple’s controversial past.
It shared: “Campaigns hosted on BackaBuddy may be reviewed after going live to ensure they remain aligned with the requirements accepted when using the platform. These reviews form part of our standard processes.
“BackaBuddy does not monitor, investigate, or moderate activities, content, or communications that occur outside of the platform. What we can confirm is that the campaign was assessed through our standard review process, and the decision should not be read as a public finding by BackaBuddy on any external legal matter, allegation, or individual involved.
“BackaBuddy takes any decision to review, remove or deactivate a campaign/account carefully, with donor protection, campaign integrity and platform accountability as key considerations”.