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The Instagram site of Themba Selahle, better known by his social media name of "Grootman", has been taken offline, days after SA's financial watchdog warned the public that he did not have a licence to trade foreign currency for clients.
When attempting to visit the page, a message reads, "Sorry, this page isn't available". Before the site went offline, Selahle had 340 000 followers.
It is unclear if Selahle deleted the page himself, or if it was taken offline by Instagram.
A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram, said that Selahle was found to have violated the site's standards. Meta said it took "appropriate action" without specifying what this entailed.
Selahle, whose feed was full of lavish shopping sprees and expensive cars, claimed to be able to make vast, almost immediate gains for investors by trading forex, without explaining how he was able to do this.
Earlier this month the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warned he was not licensed to trade forex for clients or offer any financial services. It warned the public against doing business with him, saying he promises "high and unreasonable" returns and blocks investors who complain.
Selahle downplayed the warnings, posting on his feed that he would continue to trade.
"I am not going to watch people suffer while I have solutions that don't harm anyone," he wrote.
* This article has been updated to clarify that the FSCA said that Selahle did not have a license to trade forex for clients.
