The VBS Stakeholders’ Forum has blamed the government for closing the mutual bank at the first sight of trouble in 2018.
VBS collapsed after almost R2 billion was stolen by executives and politicians over three years.
Earlier in July, the bank’s chairman, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on multiple counts of fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and theft.
Investigations in 2018 found that 18 municipalities had invested funds in the VBS Mutual Bank against regulations by the National Treasury.
Municipalities were later instructed to withdraw these unlawful investments, although not all of it has been clawed back.
Thousands of depositors also lost their life savings in what’s been labeled the great bank heist.
A decision was taken to wind up the bank after a report found there was nothing left to salvage.
Chairperson of the VBS Stakeholders’ Forum Madambi Muvhulawa said more could have been done to save the now-defunct bank.
“According to the financials, the bank was still solvent.”
The forum again called for accountability for the scandal, for depositors to be paid back, and for the bank to be revived.
-EWN
In other news – It ended in tears: Cindy Makhathini and DJ Felo Le Tee break up
Popular South African club host and ‘slay queen’, Cindy Makhathini has opened up about her split from her DJ Felo Le Tee. The social media influencer and club host who went public about their relationship when posting pictures of them loved up together, confirmed she is a single woman.
In an emotional Instagram Live video Cindy revealed they had been broken up for a month, vowed never to date “industry boys” again, and spoke about what led to their breakup. Read More
