Former VBS Mutual Bank chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi and his accomplices appear at Palm Ridge Regional Court in Johannesburg, 18 June 2020, after charges of theft of billions of rands from the bank. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has welcomed the arrests of VBS Mutual Bank officials, directors and their auditor.
DA Limpopo provincial leader and member of the Limpopo legislature Jacques Smalle said the arrests were the first following the report commissioned by the Reserve Bank.
The report, he said, clearly outlined how ANC officials and politicians, as well as prominent Economic Freedom Fighters politicians, were linked to these crimes.
He said his party laid criminal charges in October 2018 against the 50 individuals named in the report, who allegedly looted the bank for their own financial gain.
“According to the report, the then ANC Limpopo treasurer, Danny Msiza, was allegedly the kingpin of the so-called ‘commissioner-agent-scheme’ that would then see politicians and officials receive commission for ensuring a municipality deposits and keeps funds at VBS,” said Smalle in a statement.
Eleven Limpopo municipalities deposited close to R2 billion of the people’s money, most of which came from towns and villages with the worst records of service delivery. The deposits were done in clear violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act and Treasury regulations.
These deposits were also done against a regulation which outlined that it was against the law for municipal public funds to be deposited in a mutual bank, as VBS was.
Smalle said the kickbacks to ANC members – which allegedly included party provincial heavyweights Florence Radzilani, Gilbert Kganyago and Kabelo Matsepe – and the subsequent looting that took place at VBS resulted in eight municipalities losing more than R1.2 billion.
Smalle said people in political office have a responsibility to serve the electorate honestly and not to enrich themselves by stealing from the poor.
“We call on the National Prosecuting Authority and Hawks to arrest the implicated politicians and municipal officials who benefited from the VBS bank heist without fear or favour,” said Smalle.
The Citizen understands that the forensic report recommended that steps be taken to recoup monies lost at the bank from the following people and organisations:
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
