DA tables MONCs against mayors implicated in the VBS scandal following ANC’s failure to hold them accountable

Note to Editors: This statement follows the DA’s intention to table motions of no confidence against mayors of municipalities who illegally deposited funds with VBS Mutual Bank. DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Kevin Mileham MP, DA Limpopo Provincial Leader, Jacques Smalle MPL, and various DA councillors, addressed members of the media in Polokwane, Limpopo.

Please find attached the soundbite in English by Mr Mileham and in Afrikaans by Mr Smalle. Picture and video can be found here and here.

Today, the DA tabled motions of no confidence against mayors of municipalities who illegally deposited funds with VBS Mutual Bank in Polokwane, Limpopo. These motions are in accordance with the Section 58 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998.

The DA is the only party that believes in accountability and will today once again attempt to clean up the mess and destruction created by the ANC. Preceding this step, the DA explored all possible avenues available to hold all those implicated accountable. This included laying charges of fraud, racketeering and corruption charges against the executives of VBS Mutual Bank and the municipal managers and Chief Financial Officers at the affected municipalities.

Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his embarrassment over the ANC being a beneficiary of this outright corruption and fraud, that simply means nothing. Neither him or Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Zweli Mkhize, have held anyone accountable.

The VBS scandal sent shockwaves across the country as unsuspecting VBS clients across Limpopo were left stranded and had to stand in the long queues in the desperate bid to draw their money for days on end. It is unacceptable that the most vulnerable and poor had to pay for these illegal actions while the respective mayors continue to live in the lap of luxury.

The dire state of these affected municipalities is appalling as they are some of the worst run and financially dysfunctional. These deposits were not only made despite the National Treasury’s instruction not to do so but are also in direct contravention of the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA).

These deposits are worth approximately R 1.5 billion, money which is unlikely to be recovered. This significantly impacts on the ability of municipalities to deliver services, in areas where service delivery and municipal infrastructure is already in a horrific state.

It has been confirmed that the ANC has benefitted from the VBS scandal and that there is a link between VBS and at least one of the prominent factions within the ANC:

VBS treasurer, Phophi Mukhodobwane, revealed that VBS would have received R1 billion deposit from Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) if Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma won the ANC presidential race;

Robvet, a shelf company of VBS, transferred funds to the ANC; and

A senior ANC official in Limpopo has been accused of facilitating deals for the 15 municipalities to make deposits into the VBS Mutual Bank.

All of this has been aided and abetted by the uncaring ANC government amid the escalating costs of living and unemployment crisis in the country.

Ordinary South Africans are failed when the very same people who must create job opportunities for them and ensure efficient service delivery are the ones who allow corruption to steal from the poor.

It is now clear as day that the ANC’s much-vaunted clampdown on corruption is another slogan to try to win voters over. The DA believes that the removal of these mayors who essentially sold their municipalities to the highest bidders, is the first real step in ensuring accountability and justice for the citizens they have robbed.

In 2019, the people of South Africa will have a chance to free themselves of the ANC’s corruption and vote in a party which has a good record of clean governance and efficient service delivery.

The DA will not shirk from its commitment to ensure that ratepayer’s money is used for the benefit of all South Africans.

Statement issued by Kevin Mileham MP, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, 10 August 2018