Ramaphosa ashamed:

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday had very harsh words for those who looted the VBS Mutual Bank, labelling them as thieves, robbers and scoundrels.

In an interview on Tonight with Jane Dutton on eNCA, Ramaphosa said the VBS scandal was something he was “ashamed” of.

VBS rose to prominence after it provided a R7.8m loan to former president Jacob Zuma to pay back the individual benefits he obtained for the state-funded R246m upgrade to his private home in Nkandla.

Ramaphosa said those responsible had to be held accountable as money was stolen from the poor and vulnerable. He said the bank had lost its way because people had “ill intent”.

He also suggested that regulations for such banks may have to be tightened because the processes keeping them in check may not have been stringent enough for the Reserve Bank to pick up on the problems in time.

“Those responsible must now be dealt with … there has to be accountability.”

He said he would like to see VBS Bank saved.

Ramaphosa also said those responsible for state capture would be held to account, even if they were leaders of the ANC.

The president was asked about whether leaders such as secretary-general Ace Magashule would be held to account for their role in allegations around the channelling of money to the Gupta family in the Estina dairy farm project. Ramaphosa said the statecapture inquiry would “go into the belly” of the issue and make sure those responsible were held accountable.

“Corruption is a cancer … once it is embedded in the body politic … it begins to break the body politic apart,” he said.

Ramaphosa also said he was committed to the creation of unity in the ANC and admitted this was not an easy process.