Former ANC treasurer general Dr Zweli Mkhize has broken his silence about his knowledge of the ANC’s dealings with the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank in an exclusive interview with Sunday World.
Mkhize was speaking to this paper in response to jaw-dropping claims made in a sworn witness statement by disgraced former VBS chairman Tshifhiwa Matodzi, who is behind bars for corruption.
Among his claims, Matodzi revealed he had met with Mkhize, who requested a donation for the ANC. The erstwhile VBS top man went on to claim that R2-million had been dispatched as a donation to the ANC.
Mkhize confirmed he had met with VBS bosses and solicited donations like he had done with other banks and big businesses during his tenure at the helm of the ANC’s finance office.
He claimed his interactions with VBS and his requests for donations occurred in good faith, long before the scandal that brought the bank to its knees surfaced.
Speaking for the first time on the matter since Matodzi’s statement was leaked, Mkhize said he could not confirm whether the R2-million donation claim was true as the verification process was more complex than many imagined.
As things stand, said Mkhize, he was unable to vouch that the ANC received R2-million from VBS, either as a direct donation or a donation in kind, owing to a lack of access to records stored at Luthuli House.
“In the first instance, it is true that I was in the meeting with VBS leadership, so I don’t see anything wrong with that.
“There’s nothing wrong about asking for a donation, especially since it was not linked to the VBS scandal. At that time any request for donation would not have been anything abnormal,” said Mkhize.
“My issue with this is that if you have information, you can track it based on what you have on the records.
“I just want to say that there was nothing untoward about the meeting we had with VBS soliciting a donation.
“I cannot recall that there was a donation that came from VBS as such, because if you received a donation, we have records.
“I gave this explanation to the leadership (ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and treasurer general Dr Gwen Ramokgopa) because they would have to find information that would lead them to concretely say that this is the payment from this person, and this was the service that was being sought. If you have to do that, you need more information to trace; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to do it as simply as that.”
Mkhize insists that it is opportunistic for Matodzi to just claim that VBS donated R2-million to the ANC as a blanket statement without giving details.
For example, he stated that if the money had come from an individual or subsidiary of an entity, it would be recorded in their name, and looking for an organisation that they represent in the records would be a futile exercise.
This could be read as a reference to a recent revelation by Ramokgopa that the ANC could only find an amount of R100 000 as a donation from the now-defunct bank that served mainly the elderly, stokvels, burial societies and small businesses in Limpopo.
“The record they said [Luthuli House] was able to see were for some tables that were bought at a gala dinner or some donation amount that was made, I don’t recall…
“But if there was a contribution from VBS as a bank, it would have been recorded as the bank; if it came from other members who might be clients or members of the board, then it would have been recorded under the name of that particular individual.”
Mkhize said he condemns all people who were involved in the “looting, corruption, and taking of the savings of the poor and elderly” at VBS.
And his condemnation was not only for PR, said Mkhize, as he had demonstrated his disdain over the VBS scandal by holding municipal bosses who had illegally invested public money in the bank accountable when he was minister of local government.
Mkhize stated he would not tolerate any insinuations or narratives that attempted to portray him as having been involved in a corrupt situation.
“The information about the contribution from VBS, maybe it’s something that would have happened after I’d left the office. But if it’s something that happened before, then somebody would have to explain that because I don’t have those records.
“If there was any money that came through or somebody said I signed a cheque that cheque would tell you why I signed it, and there wouldn’t be any problem in tracing that and seeing where it was going.”
Hayi Mkhize! I don’t trust him. This is the 3rd time, I’ve read about him on wrong money matters. No wonder he won’t tolerate any insinuations.