Floyd Shivambu pay back the money

(YouTube screenshot / MyAfrica)

VBS debate: MPs tell Floyd Shivambu to “pay back the money” [video]

Marvellous humour in Parliament today. Floyd Shivambu, so used to dishing out a “pay back the money” chant, was on the receiving end this Tuesday.

Floyd Shivambu pay back the money

(YouTube screenshot / MyAfrica)

Now, if our elected officials could run a country as well as they can roast members of the opposition parties, South Africa would be a utopia. Our National Assembly delivered another moment of comedy on Tuesday, as Floyd Shivambu was royally bantered by those across the gallery.

Beginning an address on the VBS Mutual Bank scandal – which was being debated in Parliament – Shivambu was unable to get his first words out before being greeted by chants of “pay back the money”.

Floyd Shivambu told to “pay back the money”

The spontaneous chorus would have been particularly galling for the EFF deputy and his party, who made the iconic phrase famous during Jacob Zuma’s time in office. The red berets routinely used to chant in reference to the Nkandla debacle and chanted the phrase on countless occasions to taunt JZ.

However, the beret was on the other head on Tuesday. Shivambu chose to frame VBS’ downfall in a different context, rallying against “concentrated capitalism” in South Africa. He sounded off about the inequality of our country, and deflected attention elsewhere, before eventually addressing the issue:

“What you have in South Africa is a form of capitalism that is concentrated in few hands. So you’ve got a situation where, even when you have competition laws, these huge companies have ways of moving their shareholding inside their own corporations.”

“The fact of the matter is that there was a total wrong doing by the Reserve Bank as well as the executives of VBS Mutual Bank. As the EFF, without any fear of contradictions, call on the law enforcement agencies to take decisive action against all the people that did wrong in VBS Mutual Bank.”

Floyd Shivambu and VBS Bank

His brother Brian is in hot water for reportedly accepting a R16 million payment in looted funds from the institution. Floyd has denied any involvement in the organised corruption, dismissing claims that he’s benefited to the tune of R10 million himself.

Shivambu even found time to hit back at his critics, and those who stitched him up in Parliament earlier in the afternoon. He took it all with a pinch of salt, and thanked everyone for their “flattery”:

“Earlier when we were speaking here, there were people saying “Pay Back The Money”. So, I was reminded of the saying imitation is the most sincere but artless form of flattery, so we are flattered by those that learn from us in terms of how we demand accountability.”