Cape Town — Former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Chairperson, Dali Mpofu, has defended the party for receiving donations from the VBS Mutual Bank.
VBS Boss, Tshifiwa Matodzi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the dissolving of the bank in 2018.
The EFF leaders, Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu have been implicated in receiving up to R16 million from the bank.
Mpofu, spoke to Newzroom Afrika and clarified that the party has not denied receiving donations from VBS. He also emphasised that all political parties accept donations as a standard practice.
“There’s never been a denial of that, the third thing is a loan, which has always been in the public domain. So, you must separate what equals the donation, which is what happens to political parties, there is no political party that does not receive donations,” Mpofu said.
He questioned where the corruption, fraud, and money laundering had come from.
“Let’s assume the guy did say that I’ll give you a donation if you stop criticising me, so what? It’s not a crime to criticise someone on a public platform, or to not criticise,” said Mpofu.
“It’s not like there is any exchange of corruption because what was the EFF going to get in return for not criticising the bank? Where is the corruption, fraud, and money laundering?” he asked.
Former EFF chairperson, Adv. Dali Mpofu accepts that the party received money from VBS. But he denies claims of fraud and corruption linked to transactions from the now-defunct bank. It follows allegations made in a leaked affidavit by sentenced former VBS chair Tshifhiwa… pic.twitter.com/sqceW4C7ls
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 14, 2024
Mpofu argued that criticising the acceptance of the donation is unwarranted, pointing out that every bank handles money from ordinary citizens.
He also noted that the donation occurred prior to the scandal becoming public knowledge, questioning how anyone could have predicted it beforehand.
According to The Citizen, Matodzi said in his leaked affidavit that he met with the EFF leadership after the criticism of the bank’s loan to the former president, Jacob Zuma.
In his leaked affidavit, Matodzi said he met with the EFF leadership following the party’s public criticism of the bank’s loan to former president Jacob Zuma. The EFF was also criticised for accepting the donation through Sgameka Projects, a company legally owned by Floyd Shivambu’s brother Brian Shivambu, and not directly into its account.
However, Mpofu said the vehicle through which the donation was received does not matter. Neither does the amount of money received.
“We’re tired of having to say the same thing about this matter. Every time somebody speaks, it blows up as if something new has come up. Nothing new comes up in that affidavit,” said Mpofu.
“If anything, that affidavit contains information that absolves Malema and Shivambu. Because Matodzi says it was a donation to the EFF, not Shivambu and Malema. He does say he had a meeting with them. But he specifically says it was a donation to the EFF.”
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@benpooler
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
