DA cautiously welcomes SARB’s announcement to guarantee up to R100 000 for VBS clients

The DA welcomes the South African Reserve Bank’s announcement that VBS Mutual Bank’s clients (individuals, burial societies and stokvels) will, from Friday, be able to withdraw up to R100 000 over a period of three years through a process that will be facilitated by Nedbank.

Although we are pleased that ordinary citizens who deposited money with VBS will get their money back, this will not be enough to reverse the problems that were caused by the apparent looting of money at the bank.

Clients will be able to withdraw all their funds or leave them with Nedbank, but will need to have withdrawn all the money within three years.

However, we are concerned that monies deposited by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and several municipalities with VBS may not be recovered.

If these public monies are not recovered, state employees and citizens of various municipalities will be the hardest hit. The PIC manages the pension funds of millions of state employees and their savings have now been placed at risk.

Citizens of the affected municipalities will also be deprived of basic services should this money not be retrieved and this shows once more that corruption is not a victimless crime.

The DA will continue to hold those who loot public funds accountable and will not tolerate corruption.

Statement issued by Alf Lees MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance, 9 July 2018