Senior ANC heads likely to roll in Limpopo today over VBS

Two senior Limpopo ANC figures implicated in the VBS Bank scandal face the axe today when the provincial party structure is expected to implement the directives of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) that they be removed from their positions.

The party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) will meet today to discuss the fate of provincial deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani and treasurer Danny Msiza.

Radzilani and Msiza are among the 53 bank shareholders, business people, politicians and traditional leaders implicated in Advocate Terry Motau’s “Great Bank Heist” report, and are accused of jointly syphoning off about R1.8 million from VBS Mutual Bank.

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Msiza is accused in the report of advising municipalities to invest municipal funds into the bank.

A total of 15 from Limpopo, North West and Gauteng invested R1.5 billion into VBS.

Last Friday, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said what was really startling is the fact that people knew investing with VBS Mutual Bank was risky.

She said what was more important was that municipalities invested in the bank, despite a warning from national treasury not to do so. She said poor people had lost their life savings.

“In light of all these, we have asked that the party officials in Limpopo should be recused from the positions, the two of them.

“We have also requested that out of the five municipal mayors, two have, in fact, complied with the National Treasury decision that they withdraw their money from the bank. The other three need to be removed from their positions,” said Duarte.

She said the understanding of the ANC is that the Limpopo PEC and the government of Limpopo were currently implementing the findings of their investigations.

Yesterday, the Limpopo ANC could not confirm if the decision of the NEC was on the agenda for the PEC meeting today.

ANC Limpopo provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane said it was waiting for direction from the NEC but noted that the party would “blacklist all officials and politicians who are implicated and make sure they don’t work anywhere else in SA”.

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