#VBS: Floyd Shivambu says there’s a liar in the Reserve Bank
The Deputy President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF),
Floyd Shivambu, has broken his silence and hit back at reports that he
allegedly benefited from the VBS Mutual Bank collapse.
Shivambu released a statement on Saturday morning, blaming “weapons of mass deception and propaganda machines hard at work to mislead our people with their fake news.”
He has lashed out at reports that he supposedly received R10 million from his brother, Brian Shivambu, who has been named in the damning report about the dealings that led to the bankruptcy of the Limpopo-based bank.
Brian Shivambu had allegedly received more than R16 million – with further allegations that he deposited R10 million into the personal bank account of his brother, Floyd.
However, the EFF deputy President says in the statement this is not true.
“Faceless sources reportedly to be from South African Reserve Bank, who have ulterior motives, have been misleading journalists and radio presenters with their malicious narrative.”
Shivambu makes it clear he has no dealings with VBS and adds that “any attempt to link the EFF to the bank for cheap political points is a clear sign of desperation and soon enough people will see through it.”
Shivambu also continues with his attack on the Head of Tax and Financial Sector Policy at the national Treasury, Ismail Momoniat, accusing him of undermining African leadership at the Treasury.
He alludes to a high placed Reserve Bank worker, responsible for leaking information.
“The so-called well-placed sources in the SARB is a coward and a liar who misled journalists and can’t even reveal their identity.”
According to the statement, Shivambu says he stands by the EFF’s position regarding the VBS matter.
This includes that “VBS must not be liquidated and should instead be recapitalized in the same way African Bank was recapitalized. That all people who were associated with wrong doing should be held accountable and those who illegally benefited from the fraud must be criminally prosecuted immediately.”
The party has also called on the Curator of VBS to protect the interests of depositors, who run the risk of losing their money.
“Our position on VBS has never changed even when the Bank is under curatorship. That is why we exposed the appointment of Nedbank to take over the accounts of VBS Depositors without due process despite the fact that there are fewer Nedbank branches and Nedbank is the most expensive.”