Foundation Calls on ANC and SACP to Pay Back the VBS Money
The Tshenuwani Farisani Foundation has called upon the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) to pay back the money received from VBS Mutual Bank.
Former VBS Mutual Bank chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi implicated the ANC, the EFF, and the SACP in the VBS saga.
In his affidavit, he alleged that the EFF received R5m upfront and then R1m monthly to silence the party after the bank granted a loan to then-president Jacob Zuma for Nkandla, which the EFF criticised.
The SACP allegedly requested VBS to settle a R3m conference bill owed to the Birchwood Hotel in Kempton Park in July 2017 through its then Gauteng chair, Jacob Mamabolo.
The former ANC treasurer-general, Zweli Mkhize, allegedly requested R2m from the bank to pay an ANC supplier.
In a statement issued by the Tshenuwani Farisani Foundation, it stated that the collapse of VBS has left more than 500 destitute women, men, burial societies, and investment organizations around Venda and elsewhere bankrupt.
“No amount of ‘there’s no case’ would convince us that our people were robbed of their livelihood investments. Politicians and other leaders cannot today stand with a straight face and say ‘we did not know’,” said the statement.
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The foundation commended the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), one of the beneficiaries of VBS, for committing to repay the R5 million gratification and the R1 million monthly donation.
“It is on this premise that we call upon the SACP (the vanguard of the working class) to also demonstrate ethical and moral leadership and repay the money. The working class, whom the SACP seeks to represent, is now poor, sick, and some have passed away without realising their investment returns from VBS,” said the statement.
The foundation said as Dr Tshenuwani Farisani celebrate his 77 years of his life he has chosen to celebrate with 77 victims of VBS, those elders of women and men who were seen queuing everyday asking for their monies.
Foundation Calls on ANC and SACP to Pay Back the VBS Money