Reinstatement reveals astounding ANC myopia
Hidden somewhere near the bottom of the ANC NEC statement was the following disturbing announcement: “The NEC also received a report of the integrity commission on the two Limpopo provincial leaders implicated in the VBS saga. It is now close to two years that the two comrades stepped aside from their positions. The ANC therefore decided that the two comrades be reinstated to their positions ... The NEC further called on law enforcement agencies to act swiftly against those found to be in the wrong on the VBS saga regardless of their position or station in life.”
The two Limpopo leaders the ANC is referring to are provincial deputy chair Florence Radzilani and provincial treasurer Danny Msiza. Radzilani, a former mayor of Vhembe district municipality, is not mentioned by name in “The Great Bank Heist”, a 148-page report into how the bank was looted. But a WhatsApp message from a middleman, Kabelo Matsepe, has her complaining that she only received R300,000 in bribes for directing Vhembe municipality funds into VBS, while her juniors got considerably more.
Msiza, or “Bra Danny” as Matsepe refers to him in the WhatsApp messages quoted in the report compiled by advocate Terry Motau, is alleged to have used his political influence to convince poor municipalities in Limpopo to invest money meant for service delivery in the doomed bank, money which may never be recovered.
These are the “comrades” the NEC has opted to reinstate to their positions, even before they have answered for the role they allegedly played in the collapse of VBS. How does the ANC’s highest decision-making body between conferences expect law enforcement agencies to “act swiftly against those found to be in the wrong on the VBS saga” when it is rallying around its own provincial leaders who may have a serious case to answer? The level of myopia is astounding.
The integrity commission first demanded that the two step aside in 2018. The ANC is keeping the latest report of the same commission under wraps, but chances are it has recommended they be charged. The ruling party is setting a terrible example. Those who loot public funds will be emboldened when impunity is rewarded with reinstatement.