Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the latest revelation in the VBS saga will go a long way in ensuring justice for those who lost their monies in the looting of the bank. She was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Cabinet Lekgotla under way at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria.
This is the first sitting of the new executive of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
In an explosive affidavit that outlines how R1.9 billion was looted from the VBS Mutual Bank, its former chairperson, Tshifhiwa Matodzi implicates several people and organisations for looting funds from the bank.
Several politicians from the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were also implicated.
Ntshavheni says justice for the victims of the bank is closer. “This affidavit, we hope will allow law enforcement agencies to move with speed to bring to book everybody who has swindled the money of our people because now we know the scale of the looting and the impact of the disregard of the laws. But you have not quantified the impact of the VBS saga to the ordinary people of Vhembe in particular. The women of the stokvels and the burial societies and the aged who have lost their pension funds. But to make up for that we need everybody who had been mentioned to be prosecuted and to serve the time for justice for the victims of VBS.”
Minority VBS Bank shareholder Robert Livhoyi says he hopes that the money which was looted when the VBS Mutual Bank collapsed, could be recovered and returned to owners.
The scam stretched from impoverished rural villages all the way to government circles and defrauded ordinary people.
“If I could say anything about the arrest and the sentencing, it’s a good thing. There’s been a lot of people, especially from the Stokvel until today, and some of them have died. Until today, nobody has gotten what is due to them. If all can be done in an honest manner by recovering the money from people who stole it and going back to the owners of the money, the investors and shareholders, and giving them their money, that’s what I pray for.”
VBS Saga | Minority shareholder hails efforts to recoup looted funds:
Some family members of convicted Matodzi have allegedly unduly benefited from the loot of the bank. This is detailed in Matodzi’s leaked 263-page affidavit as part of his plea agreement before the High Court in Pretoria.
Former VBS CFO Phillip Truter is also serving a 10-year jail term after pleading guilty to similar charges in 2020.
VBS Bank | Claims of how some political parties benefitted from corruption:
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenhage weighs in:
