‘Every bank has money from poor people,’ says Mpofu on VBS donation to EFF

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has said there is a double standard in the criticism of the party receiving money from the Venda Building Society (VBS) Mutual Bank.

Mpofu said there was no bank in the country that did not have a bank account of a poor person, yet they donated money to different causes all the time.

Mpofu defended the party which former VBS boss Tshifhiwa Matodzi said received a donation from the bank in 2017.

VBS was declared insolvent and bankrupt in 2018.

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“You cannot say the donation should not have been taken. Every bank has money from poor people. You can’t say ‘no, I can’t take money from a bank because there’s some poor person who owns a bank account’,” Mpofu told Newzroom Afrika on Sunday.

“The donation also happened before the scandal broke, how would we have known what would happen in the future?”

Mpofu on VBS: Where is the corruption?

In his leaked affidavit, Matodzi said he met with the EFF leadership following the party’s public criticism of the bank’s loan to former president Jacob Zuma.

“I then proposed that VBS can donate R5 million immediately once a bank account has been opened at VBS and R1 million per month to the EFF. I also made it clear that the amount could only be deposited into a VBS account, and that EFF should therefore open a bank account with VBS,” reads the affidavit.

“But this happens all the time,” said Mpofu, explaining that private companies meet with their critics all the time.

“However, the meetings do not mean there is corruption involved.

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“Let’s assume the guy did say that I’ll give you a donation if you stop criticising me, so what? It’s not a crime to criticise someone on a public platform, or to not criticise,” said Mpofu.

“It’s not like there is any exchange of corruption because what was the EFF going to get in return for not criticising the bank? Where is the corruption, fraud and money laundering?

“There has never been a denial that EFF received donations from VBS. There is no political party that does not receive donations.”

Why Sgameka?

The party has also been criticised for accepting the donation through Sgameka Projects, a company legally owned by Floyd Shivambu’s brother Brian Shivambu, and not directly into its account.

Matodzi wrote in his affidavit: “At some stage, Floyd [Shivambu] indicated that they have opened an account at VBS in the name of a company called Sgameka. A transfer of R5 million as promised was made on my instructions to Sgameka on 8 June 2017. Subsequent payments were made to Sgameka VBS account every month.”

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However, Mpofu said the vehicle through which the donation was received does not matter. Neither does the amount of money received.

“We’re tired of having to say the same thing about this matter. Every time somebody speaks, it blows up as if something new has come up. Nothing new comes up in that affidavit,” said Mpofu.

“If anything, that affidavit contains information that absolves Malema and Shivambu. Because Matodzi says it was a donation to the EFF, not Shivambu and Malema. He does say he had a meeting with them. But he specifically says it was a donation to the EFF.”

Matodzi sentenced VBS matter

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria sentenced Matodzi to 495 years for his crimes on Wednesday.

The court sentenced him to 15 years for each count, and the combined sentence amounted to 495 years. However, the court ordered that the sentences for counts 2 to 33 run concurrently with count 1. This then means he will serve an effective 15 years in prison.

As part of the agreement, he pleaded guilty to all 33 charges.

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Matodzi was the primary accused in the case and pleaded guilty to corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and a pattern of racketeering activities that saw the downfall of VBS Mutual Bank.

The state had alleged that Matodzi and his accomplices looted nearly R2.3 billion from VBS’ coffers. They allegedly also doctored the bank’s 2017 financial statements to cover up that the bank was insolvent.

The court also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.