Limpopo ANC bigwig faces party suspension over VBS saga – report

Corruption-accused Limpopo ANC treasurer Danny Msiza reportedly faces suspension from the governing party, according to a report.

SABC News reported on Tuesday that ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte had sent a letter to the provincial secretary, Soviet Lekganyane, urging him to implement the party’s step-aside resolution.

The resolution requires all ANC members who are criminally charged to step down pending the finalisation of their court cases. The step-aside resolution reportedly affects eight other party members in Limpopo.

ALSO READ: Case against 14 accused of VBS corruption postponed to October

Duarte’s letter, dated 16 August 2021, was apparently in response to correspondence by ANC Limpopo, which wrote to the national ANC leadership on 4 August asking if Msiza should step down given that he had previously stepped aside for two years for the same case.

Msiza faces charges of theft, fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering in connection with the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank.

The state alleges that Msiza and his 13 co-accused looted nearly R2.3 billion from VBS’s coffers and doctored the bank’s 2017 financial statements to cover up the fact that it was insolvent.

The case was postponed to 12 October 2021 after the group appeared in the Pretoria High Court earlier this month for pre-trial proceedings.