Tito Mboweni

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivering his Budget Speech
Image Source: Flickr

Is Tito Mboweni labelling Tokyo Sexwale as ‘unhinged’?

There has been a flood of reaction to prominent businessman Tokyo Sexwale’s claims of billions being stolen from the SA Reserve Bank

Tito Mboweni

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivering his Budget Speech
Image Source: Flickr

The jaw-dropping revelations made by African National Congress (ANC) veteran and prominent businessman Tokyo Sexwale – that billions of rands were siphoned from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) – have been met with reactions and maybe even by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

Sexwale held a media briefing in Midrand on Thursday, 22 April 2021, to shed some light on the claims he made during an interview with eNCA.

He alleged that a so-called Heritage Fund, was looted.

The billionaire and former Gauteng premier is not backing down and sticking to his allegations, despite the Reserve Bank and National Treasury having flagrantly denied the fund’s existence.

Some South Africans were skeptical about Sexwale’s claims, many even suggesting that he may be mentally unwell. Mboweni took to the Twitter, following the fiery presser that Sexwale held.

“Do not laugh at the unhinged, be sympathetic and reach out. We all face challenges from time to time! Sometimes, people suffer from delusions of grandeur. Be supportive and they will come right,” Mboweni tweeted.

While the minister didn’t specifically call out Sexwale, his remarks suggests he is indeed referring to him.

Tokyo Sexwale sticks to his guns

Tito Mboweni was one of the first to respond to the eNCA interview, denying Tokyo Sexwale’s claims. This was followed by the Reserve Bank and Treasury, who also hit back, and said Sexwale was likely scammed. However, he has denied this.

“The money was then transferred to 18 commercial banks in the country including into the personal accounts of prominent individuals. All these crimes happened at the Reserve Bank. Now they say Tokyo was scammed,” he said.

The Hawks have confirmed that Sexwale opened a case with him several weeks before.

“It is too early in the investigation to speculate who the role players are, and it is not the norm of the DPCI to reveal the names of suspects or persons of interest before allegations are properly investigated and such suspects have been before court,” spokesperson Katleho Mogale said.