Limpopo ANC treasurer and former youth league leader in court over VBS scandal

Limpopo ANC treasurer Danny Msiza and former provincial ANC Youth League leader Kabelo Matsepe appeared in court on Friday in connection with the plundering of VBS Mutual Bank.

They were among six new suspects applying for bail at the Palm Ridge magistrate's court and face charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering

The co-accused are Robert Madzonga, Ralliom Razwinane, Takunda Mucheke and Tshinaeo Madadhze.

This comes after the pair were issued with warrants of arrest on Thursday, which led to them deciding to hand themselves over to authorities.

Madzonga, former chief operating officer of the bank and CEO of its parent company, Vele Investments, lived a life of excess with a Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce Phantom paraded by his then wife on Instagram.

In an interview with the Sunday Times in 2020 he declared he was innocent.

“If there was something against me, I also would have been picked up by now. This round focused on people who ran the bank and Vele Investments. I was one of them. In fact, at some point, I was once branded as the mastermind. But I can tell you, there is nothing against me. I am happy and I feel vindicated,” Madzonga said at the time.

Razwinane is the owner of Gundos Wealth Solutions (GWS), according to the report into the looting of the bank.

In October last year, one of the accused, former VBS Bank CFO Philip Truter, reached a plea and sentence agreement with the state which saw him sentenced to an effective seven-year jail term after pleading guilty to six counts, including corruption and fraud.

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