AfriForum prepares to lay charges of corruption, fraud, and money laundering against Malema and Shivambu
The civil rights organisation AfriForum has instructed its legal team this morning to formulate charges of corruption, fraud, and money laundering against the EFF leaders Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu. These charges will soon be lodged with the police.
AfriForum also requested Adv. Gerrie Nel and his team at AfriForum’s Private Prosecutions Unit to monitor the case and to put pressure on the prosecution process should it appear that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is dragging its feet. “Should the state however fail to prosecute Malema and Shivambu, AfriForum will consider private prosecution as an alternative,” says Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum.
This follows revelations made in an extensive statement this week by the former chairperson of VBS Mutual Bank, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, as part of his plea deal. Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges of among others corruption, theft and money laundering, and now states that the EFF has received monthly donations and a so-called business loan of millions of rands from VBS since 2017 through a front company, Sgameka Projects. It seems that an amount of R5 million was originally paid, followed by monthly donations of R1 million and a R4 million loan. Matodzi’s statement indicates that this money was paid to the EFF as a bribe but that especially Malema and Shivambu in their personal capacity benefitted from these transactions.
AfriForum argues that Matodzi’s statement provides sufficient grounds for the NPA to obtain a preservation order on Malema and Shivambu’s assets.
“The state’s failure to prosecute Malema for his part in the On Point Engineering corruption case has apparently given him the impression that he is untouchable and that he can simply continue with his involvement in alleged corrupt activities. That is why it is important that Malema and Shivambu are prosecuted for the plundering of VBS, to send a very clear message that nobody is above the law,” Kriel concludes.
