Ramaphosa cowed into silence on VBS – academic

Although he had denied reports he knew in advance of the shenanigans at the VBS Mutual Bank (see report below), President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken flack from an academic who has previously defended him, notes Legalbrief. Political analyst, Professor Lesiba Teffo, said Ramaphosa had failed the poor clients of VBS by not speaking out against the looting. He kept quiet because he was power hungry and scared to offend his boss, Jacob Zuma, Teffo said, adding Ramaphosa did not want to jeopardise his chances of winning at the Nasrec ANC national conference to become the party’s president and, subsequently, President of the country. According to a report in The Citizen, Teffo said Ramaphosa, as Zuma’s deputy, knew that, had he spoken out, Zuma would have marginalised him. The analyst was reacting to the City Press report that revealed Ramaphosa knew about the massive looting that took place at the bank, but failed to take action to stop it. ‘There are many things that President Ramaphosa could have done to stop the looting at VBS Bank if he was informed about it. But he remained quiet because he did not want to diminish his prospects to succeed Jacob Zuma. ‘He could have influenced the establishment of a commission of inquiry into what was going on at VBS Bank,’ Teffo said. ‘He could have spoken out when the ANC 101 veterans raised their voices against Zuma and against problems in the ANC. There are people who were disappointed by his failure to say something or act at the time,’ Teffo added. But another analyst, Professor Susan Booysen, said it could not definitively be said that Ramaphosa had done nothing about the VBS issue. ‘Besides, I don’t think there was much he could have done earlier, otherwise Zuma would have found a way to circumvent his efforts.’

Ramaphosa has denied that he failed to take action or that he had been made aware of the VBS saga. Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko said the allegation (in City Press) was ‘baseless and unsubstantiated’, notes TimesLIVE. ‘President Ramaphosa has no knowledge of any meeting where he is said to have met any person associated with VBS Mutual Bank where he was purportedly briefed on the matter.’ Diko added that Ramaphosa was not warned about the implosion of the bank. ‘The VBS Bank saga was brought to the attention of the President through official government channels‚ including the National Treasury.’

VhaVenda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana will pay back the money he received from VBS as ‘tainted gifts’, his spokesperson said. Ramabulana was named as one of those who benefited from the largesse dished out by the bank's bosses. ‘The issue here is not about the king denying or not denying,’ his spokesperson, Makonde Mathivha, reportedly told broadcaster eNCA yesterday, according to News24. ‘What is at issue here, is that there was corruption at the bank as reported. The name of the king was brought into association with that and the king is at pains, is feeling pain with his subjects who have lost money.’ He said the king was not aware that some of ‘these gifts and benefits that he received were received from sources which are tainted’. Mathivha added that the king would sit down with the relevant authorities, break down what he received ‘from tainted sources’, and determine an ‘arrangement to repay (that) which was received as a result of corruption’.

Meanwhile, the blame game is under way. According to a Cape Argus report, Vele Investment chief executive Robert Madzonga accused former VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi of deception and betrayal. Matodzi is a founder and chairperson of Vele Investments and has been identified as the kingpin and the biggest beneficiary of the alleged fraud and corruption after he secured R325m while Madzonga received R30m. Yesterday, Madzonga denied deriving any benefit from the looting of the bank and insisted that every cent he received from both Vele Investments and VBS was related to income for his work. He, however, accused Matodzi and VBS executives of betrayal, lies and dishonesty. ‘I feel betrayed by him. They betrayed us.' Madzonga derived large rewards relating to the looting, much of which was in the form of undeclared income, according to the Reserve Bank report by Advocate Terry Motau. In the report, Motau said while Madzonga was employed by VBS for about a month in May or June as its acting chief operating officer (COO) in 2016, his account at VBS still showed receipt of a monthly salary in September and October from the bank. During the same period, he was paid R300 000 monthly by Vele Investments as its COO from July. Madzonga could not explain the discrepancy, only that it was money due to him as an employee. ‘There is nothing that has come to me as a looting or something unexplained or whatever. I said to Motau and his team that they must point to me one thing that did not come as a salary or board fees or that R4.5m which was the signing fee bonus when I was to become chief executive of Vele.’