For many victims of the VBS Mutual Bank looting scandal, the past six years have been a struggle to survive.
One victim, a mother of four, has been forced to sell fruit in her neighbourhood just to put food on the table. Her heartbreaking reminder of the devastating impact of the scandal on ordinary people’s lives.
While convicted former chairperson of the VBS Mutual Bank, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, has provided an explosive affidavit detailing how the bank was looted of over R2.3 billion of its investors, to authorities, delays keep disappointing the victims.
Matodzi implicated individuals and political parties, including prominent EFF and ANC leaders.
He was handed a 15-year jail term by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in July after pleading guilty to 33 counts which included corruption, theft, fraud and money laundering.
In the statement that also implicated the SA Communist Party, Matodzi wrote in part: “After the SACP wrote a statement that was damaging to the VBS brand which prompted Matodzi to seek a meeting with the SACP.
“I instructed Gogoro communications to obtain contacts for the relevant SACP individuals.
“Gogoro arranged a meeting to meet with the SACP Gauteng team headed by Mr Jacob Mamabolo and the VBS team led by Andile (Ramavhunga) (former VBS CEO).
“I did not attend this meeting. Another meeting was arranged between Mamabolo and I at a boutique hotel in Groenkloof, Pretoria.
“The meeting was a follow-up of the meeting that was held by Andile's team and how the relationship between VBS and the SACP could be improved.
“Another meeting was held between myself and Mamabolo at the Palazzo Hotel in Fourways. At this meeting discussions were general in nature and Mamabolo wanted to know more about how members of the SACP could be approached to bank with VBS.
“Around July 2017 I received a call from Mamabolo seeking assistance with settlement of the SACP conference bill of R3 million at Birchwood Hotel in Kempton Park.
“On July 6, 2017, the said amount was paid directly to Birchwood Hotel from MML food services. There were no further requests received from the SACP regarding payment.”
Despite all the evidence provided by the now convicted chairperson, there has still been no indication when the main trial would proceed after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in July ruled that the trial of two of the accused had to be separated from that of their co-accused.
Both are ANC Limpopo former treasurer Danny Msiza and Kabelo Matsepe who was seen as his runner.
Burial societies; stokvels; individuals - particularly the elderly - and municipalities continue to count their losses six years after the brazen looting of billions of the hard-earned money they had invested in the mutual bank.
The scandal, branded “The Great Bank Heist”, was exposed in 2018 by advocate Terry Motau, who was appointed to investigate it. He penned a report afterward that blew the lid off the scandal.
It began to unravel in March of that year, when then-minister of finance Nhlanhla Nene placed the bank under curatorship. This meant that the bank’s management and board were relieved of their powers, and a curator took over the bank’s affairs.
The curatorship gave the South African Reserve Bank the legal means to create a resolution plan to stabilise and restore the bank.
However, six years later, justice for the scandal’s victims remains elusive. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been demanding accountability. In 2018, the party laid charges against 53 individuals implicated in the looting of VBS Mutual Bank.
Despite these efforts, the case has been delayed. The pre-trial is currently under way at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, but it remains to be seen when the trial will actually begin.
The DA has renewed its call for justice, demanding those responsible for the scandal be held accountable. “Six years after the scandal broke, it is time for those responsible to be brought to book,“ said the party in a recent statement.
The Star