A leaked affidavit from former VBS bank chairperson Tshiphiwa Matosi implicates several people, including EFF leader Julius Malema and deputy governor Floyd Shivambu, in looting the bank. (Photo: Per Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
FiveVictims of the VBS Mutual Bank (VBS) scandal who lost their life savings say it is ironic that members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are not paying back money they allegedly received illegally from the bank, while at the same time demanding the return of their “stolen” land.
Aubrey Mulaudzi, who lost R2.5 million when VBS collapsed, said he and other victims are not concerned about whether those involved go to prison, they just want their money back.
“The EFF says they want the land that was taken from them, but they have taken our money and are not going to get it back,” Mulaudzi said. Mail & Guardian last week.
“They have a double standard. On the one hand, they want their land back, but we don't want to get back the money they took.”
On 11 July, former VBS Bank chairman Tshifiwa Matosi agreed to a plea deal with the National Prosecuting Authority and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The leaked affidavit implicated several people, including EFF leader Julius Malema and deputy president Floyd Shivambu, in the bank looting.
The report details that both parties were aware that payments made through Sgameka Projects, registered in the name of Floyd's brother, Brian Shivambu, were illegal.
In his affidavit at Johannesburg's Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting at Palm Ridge, Matozzi said that after meeting with Malema, Shivambu and secretary-general Marshall Dlamini in April or May 2017, he paid R16-million to the EFF to stop the party from criticising the bank in public.
The criticism came after VBS gave then-president Jacob Zuma a R7.5-million loan for a mansion in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, and Matodzi said the EFF's “negative comments” about the loan were ” [VBS’s] He added that he had been asked to make a “donation” to the EFF to stop the organisation's public denunciations of the bank.
“Myself, Julius and Floyd understood the concept of donation to mean gratification, and therefore Floyd and Julius did not provide me with EFF's own bank account information for these 'donations,'” Matoji said.
The amount of money believed to have been looted from VBS amounts to R2.5 billion.
Limpopo ANC deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani, now councillor for social development, is accused of illegally misappropriating R300 000 as an investment in VBS during her time as Vhembe district mayor.
In his affidavit, Matodzi said Radzilani demanded a further R1.5 million in December 2017 as a “Christmas present” because the R300,000 was not enough.
Mulaudzi said lives have changed since the investments were stolen and that it is “not easy” to accept that there are people who have stolen VBS victims' life investments and yet are “walking around like nothing happened”.
He said having someone like Rajrani in the state cabinet was “like spitting on” people who had lost their life's savings, adding that she should step down until she was proven innocent.
“I've lost R2.5 million, which I worked my whole life for. My life has changed completely since 2017 and I don't know if I'm moving forward or going backwards,” he said.
“The politicians are the same, it's just that they are wearing different types of overalls. How can you bring to the fore a person who is allegedly involved in the theft and looting of VBS? I mean, you are just like that person.”
Mulaudzi also called on the state to sell all of Matozzi's assets to recover the money.
“He may have hidden it for his parents, his children, his cousins. They should investigate and get the money back so the poor people and we can get our money back.” [Philip] Truter got out of prison. They didn't take everything he owned or sell it. He was having fun and he got out of prison.”
Tulter is the former chief financial officer of VBS who received R5 million of the R2.5 billion allegedly looted from the mutual bank. He pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption, organised crime, theft and money laundering in October 2020 and also agreed to provide the state with evidence about how the failed bank's funds were looted.
Truter was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three years suspended, and was released on parole in April this year after serving just three and a half years of his sentence.
Matoji was sentenced to 15 years for each charge, for a total of 495 years, but the sentences will run concurrently and he will only serve 15 years after pleading guilty to 33 charges of fraud, theft, money laundering and organized crime.
“Matozi will be released soon and the others will plead guilty. If they plead guilty they will have stolen the money and will have to be hunted until they die if they do not return it,” Mulaudzi said.
Another victim, Maloti Landisheni, told the M&G that he was left bankrupt with R1.8 million in his savings – his entire life's savings, which he said he had kept in VBS Bank all his life.
“I only used VBS Bank for the 30 years I was working. I didn't use any other bank at that time because I was a shareholder in VBS Bank. I was a shareholder and had faith in the bank so it didn't make sense for me to use any other bank,” he said.
“I trusted the bank wholeheartedly. The bank paid dividends twice a year, in March and September.”
Landisheni said after the bank collapsed he had to start everything over and his health deteriorated.
“My blood pressure went up and my eyesight got worse and I could no longer see so I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with my left eye not working. I cannot drive when it's foggy and I have to call someone from home to pick me up as I cannot see,” he lamented.
Landisheni said only R282 000 had been paid since the bank was declared insolvent.
“I received $100,000 from Nedbank in 2018-2019 but as it was a cheque I didn't get the full amount and had to open a new account with FNB,” he said.
“They told me it would cost R200 to open the account but I was left with R99 800. I was given R100 000 in 2022 and then again R82 000. So far I have been given R282 000.”
Landisheni said that when police recover the money, priority should be given to those who lost it, rather than the municipality, adding that if the bank is revived, they may consider rejoining.
“Matozi cheated us. The bank was run by blacks and whites. I remember Vo Tsiphiwa Matzi once held a meeting in a hotel and said all white people should leave because they were cheating us,” he said.
Most of the white executives, except for Truter, have left the company.
Landisheni said he believed the ANC was “afraid” to take action against Radzilani because Matodzi had said in his affidavit that Radzilani was also involved in the VBS robbery plot.
“He has confirmed that Florence Radzilani is also involved and it follows that she should step aside. I believe she should step aside so that she can understand the pain that we are feeling,” he said.
Robert Livhoy, executive director of the VBS Stakeholders Forum, said the forum was set up to ensure that people who lost money get it back, and also to revive the bank that has been trading since 1987.
Despite the problems VBS has faced, people will be keen to join the bank again because they know its history, Livhoy said.
“From 1987 to 2016, there were no problems. From 2016 to the disaster, there was a new committee and we can see where it all went wrong,” he said.
“So I have no doubt that banks will return to normal and that people will trust and invest in them.”
Livhoy said he still believes people who lost money at VBS will get it back.
“I am one of those who lost money, it hurts my heart and I feel sorry every time. That's why we are definitely going to withdraw to make sure we get their investment back,” he said.
“Whatever mistakes there may be, I believe it's a lesson we as humans need to learn that people who come with a lot of promises are usually not the right people.”
Livhoy said he doesn't think sending people to prison will get the money back, and instead argues that law enforcement should follow the paper trail and recover the funds.
“We want our money back. We don't care who goes to jail, but we want the money.”
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba said he “feel[s]the distress” VBS depositors are experiencing, adding that some had developed depression and other illnesses after the financial institution collapsed.
She said law enforcement agencies should be given “room to maneuver” to do their jobs.
Ramathuba added that the ANC has policies such as the “resignation rule” that can be invoked if party members are accused of VBS issues.
“So far, there has been no direction from the court that those indicted should step down,” she added.
