The South African Communist Party (SACP) protest march against VBS looters has been disrupted by a group of ANC members and supporters outside the Capricorn district municipality offices in Polokwane, Limpopo, on Friday.
The marchers, led by SACP Second deputy president – Solly Mapaila, wanted to submit a memorandum to the district municipality offices to demand that implicated officials be removed.
Capricorn district municipality is one of the 12 municipalities which had illegally invested public funds in the now liquidated VBS mutual bank.
Mapaila has described those who disrupted the protest march as criminals.
“We were stopped from proceeding with the march by the group of individuals who are are wearing the ANC colours, we want to say we that we condemn this in a strongest terms possible but we are not angry because we understand that that is not the ANC that’s a corrupt criminal and rotten tendency that has emerged inside our movement and expresses itself through certain leaders who are in office.”
A number of VBS senior staff and provincial politicians are accused of looting the bank.
The ANC supporters say the SACP is against the ANC regional chairperson and district executive mayor John Mpe.
“It has come to our attention as various activists and as members of the ANC that there is a group of SACP members who are coming here to march against comrade John Mphe. We are solemnly here to protect this building because we have noticed that in many marches it result into violence and damage to government property and for that reason we came here to protect this building,” says ANC regional Executive Committee Member, Jimmy Machaka.
