Hawks boss advocate Godfrey Lebeya.
- Political parties have reacted to the arrests made for the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.
- The EFF denies any wrongdoing, and vows to closely monitor developments in the case.
- DA raises concern over municipal officials and mayors who have have escaped serious consequences.
The EFF has committed to closely monitor developments made by law enforcement agencies and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.
The EFF and DA released statements on Wednesday afternoon welcoming the arrests of prime suspects in the co-ordinated multi-province search and seizure operation by the Hawks and NPA.
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This includes the arrests of the bank’s former chairperson, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, chief executive Andile Ramavhunga, treasurer Phophi Mukhodobwane and chief financial officer Philip Truter.
The EFF has been embroiled in allegations of having improperly benefited from the dissolved bank.
Stolen
The funds stolen represent investments made by numerous local and district municipalities from across the country. Pensioner and stokvel accounts held at VBS were also affected.
In a bombshell report titled “The Great Bank Heist” released in October 2018, advocate Terry Motau set out his investigation into the grand corruption and theft at VBS, and recommended a series of criminal charges against Matodzi and others, News24 previously reported.
“We welcome these arrests because an opportunity will be presented in neutral courts of law to present hard facts and evidence, thereby removing the media campaign and slander that has been ongoing since the release of the South African Reserve Bank report on improprieties in the bank.
“We further welcome the commitment by the DPCI [Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation] that no stone will be left unturned in conducting these investigations and that everyone involved in the wrong will be held accountable,” the EFF said, denying any wrongdoing or criminal activity committed by its leaders.
READ | VBS suspects due in court on Thursday to face 47 counts – Lebeya
Meanwhile, the DA said many municipal official and political leaders have escaped serious consequences even as they left municipalities in financial distress.
Action
“In at least one case a CFO of a municipality in the North West resigned before disciplinary action could be taken against her, only to reappear in Limpopo a few months later as a municipal manager.
“The DA believes that the Municipal Finance Management Act [MFMA] can be a powerful weapon for prosecutors in the VBS case,” MP Cilliers Brink said.
She added the MFMA’s investment regulations explicitly prohibited the deposit of municipal funds in mutual banks.
“Section 173 of the MFMA criminalises financial misconduct by municipal officials, and this includes the deliberate or grossly negligent flouting of investment regulations. But as the DA revealed last week, in the last 14 years only 67 people have been prosecuted under Section 173 of the MFMA of which only nine have been convicted.”
