ANC probing R2 million VBS donation claims, has no reason to doubt Mkhize, says Mbalula

African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party is investigating claims by former Venda Building Society (VBS) Mutual Bank chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi in his affidavit.

Matodzi said in his affidavit that in 2016, then-ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize allegedly requested R2 million from the bank to pay the party’s supplier.

“Around 2016, a meeting was arranged to meet with Dr Zweli Mkhize, who at the time was the treasurer-general of the ANC,” reads Matodzi’s affidavit.

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“The meeting was held in Rivonia. Present were Dr Mkhize, former CEO of VBS Andile Ramavhunga, myself, and I think there were other members in the meeting who I cannot recall.

“The meeting was probably arranged by Joseph Nkadimeng. The purpose of the meeting was for Dr Mkhize to assist VBS with accessing much larger facilities at PIC.

“I recall an amount of R2 million that was paid via Joseph Nkadimeng or Tseke Nkadimeng, which was requested by Dr Mkhize.

“The request was that the payment be for an ANC supplier. No further engagements were held with Dr Mkhize.”

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Matodzi allegedly the affidavit on 10 July as part of his plea deal with the state.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria sentenced Matodzi to 495 years for his crimes earlier this month.

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 means he will serve an effective 15 years in prison.

Mbalula says ANC investigating VBS donation

In an interview shared on the ANC’s YouTube page on Sunday, Mbalula said the party had spoken to the mentioned comrades and had no reason not to trust their version of events.

“Zweli has given us a full account on that in terms of what happened. To me and the treasurer-general, we have no reason to doubt his bona fides,” said Mbalula.

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However, he could neither confirm nor deny whether the party had received the money. He said the matter was under investigation. If the investigation finds that money did enter the ruling party’s bank account, it will be refunded.

“I can assure you now that we are going to investigate that,” said Mbalula.

“The ANC took a decision a long time ago that if there were donations made to the ANC, we must refund them. So we need to get the feedback on that because everything that happened there was corruption. There is no justification whatsoever,” said Mbalula.

“It does happen that you get donations but from [the] wrong sources. Once you have discovered that the money you got comes from corrupt sources, we must return it back, especially as a political party. We took that decision. The DG has been mandated to check on these things this week.

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“It doesn’t cast aspersions on comrades, they have given us an explanation.

“The investigation will reveal if money reached the coffers of the ANC. If not, where did it go? The ANC will do this for its own sake.”