VBS used as a front to facilitate corruption for the ANC

Today, joined by my colleague, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance, Adriana Randall MPL, I laid charges of fraud, racketeering and corruption against VBS Mutual Bank executives and its majority shareholder, Vele Investments, at the Sandton Police Station in Johannesburg.

On Sunday, allegations emerged that the bank’s directors and Vele Investments had defrauded VBS of more than R1.5 billion.

The DA is of the view that the implicated individuals breached Section 3 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act as well as Section 2 of the Prevention of Organized Crime Act.

VBS has been marred by controversy for years. It is the same bank which gave Jacob Zuma a loan to pay for his Nkandla compound. Reports today also suggest that the ANC accepted donations from the Bank for a gala event from a questionable source. This essentially means that VBS has been used as a front for criminal activity in support of the uncaring ANC government.

While the executives defrauded the bank and the ANC seems to have benefitted from this, ordinary citizens are now left to line up for days on end just to get their savings out.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that 15 municipalities made deposits with VBS, despite an instruction by National Treasury against this practice. Some of the implicated municipalities are among the worst run and most financially unstable municipalities in the country.

The South African Police Service now has a responsibility to thoroughly investigate these charges and ensure that these individuals are held accountable.

The DA will not allow the ANC’s corruption to rob South Africans of efficient service delivery. We will ensure that the individuals who are responsible are held to account.

Statement issued by Kevin Mileham MP, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, 12 July 2018