thuli madonsela

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“They’re finding themselves in the same spot as ANC” – says Madonsela on Shivambu-VBS saga

Madonsela put the challenge on Malema to practice as he preaches.

thuli madonsela

file photo

The former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela has called on the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to walk the talk amid the VBS Mutual Bank scandal that has befallen deputy president, Floyd Shivambu.

Madonsela, who was, in part, reliant on the assistance on the EFF’s Commander in Chief (CIC), Julius Malema, urged the party to act swiftly on the matter before it moulds them into former president Jacob Zuma’s ANC.

Last week, the report into the affairs of the now-defunct bank that was commissioned by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), revealed the shenanigans that brought the bank to its knees, with more than R2-billion looted from it.

Read – Report: Ramaphosa knew about VBS corruption, failed to intervene

Advocate Terry Motau, who had coined the report The Great Bank Heist identified more than 50 individuals and companies who may have had a hand in the loot pit.

One of those was a prominent member of the EFF, Brian Shivambu, the brother of Floyd. The EFF’s deputy president has since denied all allegations made against him, including the allegation that R10-million of the R16-million his brother looted from VBS bank was syphoned into his personal account.

Thulu Madonsela warns EFF to not find themselves acting like Zuma’s ANC

Madonsela believes that, if the allegations were true, Floyd should’ve picked it up when his brother sent that large sum of money into his account.

“Sometimes people are caught between maintaining the appearance of being good and actually being good, and sometimes being good means disclosing that you’re not faultless.

“And in this case, I think the EFF would have to have its own internal forensic investigation, to look at the extent to which Shivambu knew, or should have known, that his brother’s company could not have been competent enough to have amassed that amount…”

Read – Hawks and NPA take a closer look into Jacob Zuma R7.8m VBS loan repayment

Madonsela warned the EFF to not find itself breaching its ethos to protect its leadership, much like what we saw during Zuma’s tenure as the leader of the ANC.

“They’re finding themselves in the same spot as the ANC and it seems they’re resorting to the same tactics as the ANC… I think they [the EFF] will have to decide whether they want to continue to present themselves as a paragon of ethics…

and they’re then the same as the ANC, saying: forget about ethics, all we care about is the criminal justice system and we know it takes forever, therefore our people can remain on board.” she stated.