Civic organisation, Sanco, in Limpopo, is demanding the resignation of the municipal councillors involved in the VBS scandal. The organisation argues that the councillors are not fit to handle funds meant for service delivery.
11 municipalities in the province lost more than a billion rand after the VBS mutual bank was liquidated in 2018.
The debate on the loss of public funds meant for service delivery invested in the defunct VBS Mutual Bank continues to rage on.
Civic organisation, Sanco, is the second body to call on the people implicated in the looting and collapse of the bank to face the consequences of their actions.
Earlier, the ANC Veterans League called for the ANC NEC to rescind its decision to reinstate the former Vhembe executive mayor and current Limpopo ANC Deputy Chairperson, Florence Radzilani, and Treasurer Danny Msiza.
Sanco Spokesperson Sipho Dikgale says the councillors and mayors have collapsed the municipalities.
“Sanco is calling for the immediate resignations of the councillors implicated in the VBS saga. The councillors have been influential in making the municipalities to invest. Therefore, as Sanco, we don’t see them leading the society because their integrity has been affected. We’ve lost trust in them. Therefore, we’re calling on them to resign from the very same municipalities they’re bankrupt.”
Veterans League acting deputy secretary, Phiroane Phala, says they want the decision to reinstate Radzilani and Msiza to be reviewed. This call is supported by the alliance partner, the SACP, in the province.
Phala has said the decision is a smack in the face for those who lost their savings following the collapse of VBS.
“As the ANC Veterans League in Limpopo, we, therefore, wish to make a call to the ANC NEC to review, reconsider and set aside the decision to reinstate the two officials. Lives have been lost in the fight against corruption, senior citizens stokvels burial societies and ordinary men and women have lost their hard-earned savings as a result of looting in the VBS.”
However, the call by the Veterans did not go down well with the ANC and its youth league in the province. Both argue that the decision of the NEC should be respected without being questioned.
The ANC spokesperson, Donald Selamolela, explains, “We obviously welcome the decision to reinstate the two comrades. It’ll go a long way as far as helping us as a province to move forward and we further welcome with two hands the indication that the leadership will go down to structures to explain the process that ensued for them to arrive at that particular determination. We’re looking forward as a province to participate in that particular process so that all and sundry is taken on board.”
Meanwhile, several former VBS executives and a former municipal official in the North West have been arrested and appeared in court for their alleged involvement in the VBS scandal.
