Blade Nzimande delivering a keynote address during the launch of the SACP's 'Red October' campaign | Image: Twitter/ @SACP1921
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said in a statement on Monday that the South African Communist Party (SACP) must pay back the alleged R3 million bribe from the VBS Mutual Bank.
The DA noted a report over the weekend which suggests that the SACP took a R3 million “bribe” from VBS Mutual Bank in return for their silence on the bank’s relationship with the Gupta family.
SACP spokesperson Mashilo told the Citizen on Thursday that the SACP “has not received a cent” from the bank and that the party has no knowledge of such a transaction.
Mashilo said he had checked with the communist party’s financial department which is responsible for its national accounts, and that this made it clear that the SACP had “not received a cent from VBS”.
READ MORE: SACP must pay back alleged R3 million VBS “bribe”
DA MP Kevin Mileham said: “The SACP allegedly requested millions from VBS to fund the party’s national congress last year, supposedly in exchange for the party’s silence on VBS reopening the Guptas’ business accounts.
“Vele investments, the majority stakeholder of the bank, used one of its subsidiary companies (MML Food Services) to pay the SACP’s bill for the use of the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg. The payment was seemingly made from the subsidiary company to conceal any links between the bank and the SACP.”
Mileham said these allegations are a damning indictment on the SACP, and that if they are true, the party must pay back every cent.
“The SACP continuously parades itself as champions of the people yet this is not the first time the party has been caught out colluding with the defunct bank, which stole billions from our people.
“Just last week, the SACP in Limpopo suspended its provincial secretary and former Capricorn District Municipality mayor Gilbert Kganyago whose council illegally deposited R60 million into VBS.
“The DA stands firm in its stance that all those implicated in looting and stealing from the poor and vulnerable need to be held accountable for their actions.”
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