SA opposition lays criminal charges against senior gov’t official over VBS scandal
South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday laid criminal charges against Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Zweli Mkhize for his alleged role in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.
The opposition party accused Mkhize of siphoning 2 million rand as “donation” from VBS Mutual Bank in 2016 during his tenure as treasurer-general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in return for his help in raising funds from municipalities and state institutions.
The minister however rejected the allegations, saying he had never assisted VBS in securing any funding from municipalities or any other state institution.
According to the DA, Mkhize violated the Prevention of Organized Crime Act (POCA), which stipulates receiving kickbacks from any financial institution for political purposes as “unlawful activities.”
This explains why there was little action taken by Mkhize to intervene in the several municipalities that lost money to the VBS heist, said DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Kevin Mileham.
“The minister must do the right thing and resign as he has clearly failed to fulfill his duties as minister and has seemingly breached his oath of office,” Mileham said.
Also on Wednesday, Mkhize refuted allegations that he had received donation money from the VBS Mutual Bank in exchange for doing favor for the bank.
“If any financial contribution was made to the ANC by VBS or any other company, this would have been without any influence or commitment from the ANC to do favors,” Mkhize said.
Mkhize said he, in his capacity as former ANC treasurer-general, had never assisted VBS in securing any funding from municipalities or any other state institution.
In a report released in early October, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) identified 50 people associated with the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who allegedly used their political influence to ransack and defraud the bank.
