Mzwanele Manyi, the man behind Afro Voice (formerly the New Age), which applied for liquidation last week, has blamed the failure of the publication on “negative publicity” surrounding the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, according to The Sowetan.
Manyi took to Twitter yesterday in what could be interpreted as a comment addressing those who have celebrated the downfall of the publication. The paper was owned by the controversial Gupta family before Manyi bought it in a ‘vendor-financing’ agreement that would have seen him pay them back with profits made at the paper.
This comes after revelations reported in the Business Day on Monday that Afro Voice banked with the failed VBS Mutual Bank.
READ MORE: VBS debacle, a shock, travesty of trust – Ramaphosa
R1.5 billion is understood to have been looted from the failed bank, with more than 22 000 depositors thought to have lost their money.
On Monday night, President Ramaphosa voiced his shame over the incident on eNCA.
“What happened at VBS is really a shame not only to the people of Venda or Limpopo but the people of South Africa as a whole – and ordinary women who save their money for burial societies. We are really ashamed about what happened,” Ramaphosa said.
The Citizen has reported that while the ongoing scandal and bad news that surround the troubled VBS Mutual Bank continue, photographs and videos purporting to be linked to bank executives and others associated with it, who are seen to be living it up with the allegedly looted money, continue to be widely shared.
In court papers asking for TNA Media to be urgently placed under provisional liquidation, Manyi said the company’s operational bank accounts were held with VBS, which was placed under curatorship in March, and the freezing of all its operation’s accounts by the bank had “severely affected” the business.
The liquidation refers only to the newspaper, Afro Voice.
While Manyi’s television channel Afro Worldview, formerly ANN7, has not been affected, its future is also in question as its contract with MultiChoice expires in August 2018.
