The ANC in Limpopo says it will await the finalisation of the criminal case against its treasurer, Danny Msiza, before taking any action. Msiza and his six co-accused have appeared in the Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge, east of Johannesburg, for alleged involvement in the looting and collapse of the VBS Mutual Bank.
The Reserve Bank’s “Great Bank Heist” report by Advocate Terry Motau recommended criminal charges against those implicated in the looting and collapse of the bank.
Msiza, Robert Madzonga, Kabelo Matsepe, Ralliom Razwinane, Takunda Mucheke, Tshianeo Madadzhe and Mulimisi Maposa are all out bail.
According to bail conditions, the accused must hand over their travel documents to authorities. They’ll appear in court again on the 26th of this month, where they will be joining seven other accused, who were arrested in June last year.
The bank’s former chief financial officer, Phillip Truter, is serving a seven-year jail term after pleading guilty to the charges.
ANC spokesperson in Limpopo, Donald Selamolela, says they won’t prejudice anyone until the matter is finalised.
“The matter has been sitting with us for quite some time, it has been very very thorny and painful to everyone. What delights us is that everyone is being afforded an opportunity at this stage to present their cases. We are not at this stage prejudicing anyone, we believe strongly that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty but what’s important for us let all the parties play the ball and close this particular matter once and for all so that the people of the province, the people of the country can know what happened in the collapse of the people’s bank,” says Selamolela.
This is not politics, we are looking at who broke the law, says NPA:
Some supporters of Msiza travelled from Limpopo to Gauteng to support him. They believe he is innocent.
“Here in South Africa, we have a Constitution which says everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We still need that bank that’s why we are saying government must assist VBS to work again, they have assisted many institutions including African Bank,” explains Fistos Mafela, a Msiza supporter.
Kickbacks case
Former municipal manager of the Collins Chabane Municipality in Malamulele Charlotte Ngobeni is being charged separately.
Ngobeni is accused of contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act and corruption. She’s allegedly responsible for taking R120 million to VBS in return for kickbacks.
Ngobeni has been granted R50 000 bail and will appear again on May 6.
The Hawks have not ruled the possibility of more arrests.
