As the scandal around the grand scale of looting around the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank in Limpopo continues to unravel, with different politicians and political parties implicated, Limpopo Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba says law enforcement agencies must be given space to do their work.
The former Limpopo health MEC said the case of the looting of the VBS Mutual Bank is particularly heartbreaking because it was poor community members who were robbed of their investments.
“We don’t want to lie to you, the VBS case is something that will haunt us for a very long time especially that the people who are involved are vulnerable and the poor,” Ramathuba spoke to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika at Parliament ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address.
“We would like to appeal to everyone to respect the law enforcement agencies in this country and give them the space to do their work.
“It is unfortunate that people want us to act and pronounce individuals guilty when they have not even be charged by the court of law. The ANC does have its own policies that we adopted in our congress (for example) the step-aside policy – when a deployee of the ANC [is] expected to step aside.”
She has said she does not know of any ANC deployee serving in government who has been charged for a criminal offence and refused to step aside.
Ramathuba said implicated people should not be tried in the court of public opinion.
Last week, IOL reported that Tshifhiwa Matodzi, the former VBS chairperson and mastermind behind the looting of the R2 billion of defunct VBS Mutual Bank, has been sentenced to 495 years of direct imprisonment.
Matodzi, 47, was sentenced on Wednesday in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
He has been described as the kingpin of a scheme that robbed pensioners and cash-strapped municipalities of their deposits with the bank.
He was charged with corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and a pattern of racketeering activities that culminated in the downfall of VBS Mutual Bank.
Gauteng spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, Katlego Mogale, said Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges and entered into a plea agreement with the state.
IOL