EFF confuses VBS issue

When we are all suffering fatigue from the profusion of bad news, the EFF news conference last week was an insult to the intelligence.

Trying to make a case for the recapitalisation of VBS Mutual Bank by holding that the SA Reserve Bank gave preferential treatment at the time of the African Bank collapse clearly demonstrated that the EFF’s leadership fails to understand that systemic risk to the country’s banking system is vastly different to fraud and embezzlement at a small bank.

Claiming that its approach had always been to protect the interests of the local community, it was convenient for the EFF not to reveal that small depositor balances had been guaranteed by the Reserve Bank and transferred to Nedbank branches.

It also questioned the oversight role of the Reserve Bank, when the finding was that financial information regularly submitted by VBS management to the regulatory authority had been fraudulently adjusted to hide the looting, and the apparently manipulated 2017 audited accounts had been signed off by the external auditor, demonstrating obtuse thinking.

The EFF’s leadership cast aspersions about the forensic specialists employed by advocate Terry Motau to assist in gathering and securing vast amounts of evidence.

No mention was made at the briefing about the appendices to Motau’s report, which has not yet been released.

These include the forensic accountants’ report and a summary of material testimony.

These appendices will, no doubt, contain all the detailed incriminating evidence upon which the report is based.

NU Garden Edenvale