CAPE TOWN - The DA said on Thursday that it has received confirmation that Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interest will be investigating Floyd Shivambu’s possible conflict of interest regarding payments received from his brother, Brian Shivambu.
Brian is one of the many people implicated in the forensic report, “VBS Mutual Bank - The Great Bank Heist”, which was released by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) last week.
According to the report, Brian was given a staggering R16 million from VBS Mutual Bank.
On Tuesday, Julius Malema confirmed that as brothers, there were numerous transactions between Floyd and Brian Shivambu.
In the VBS Mutual Bank Heist report, Brian is said to have received R16 million from the bank “without an apparent cause” and it was further alleged in media reports that evidence existed of Floyd receiving R10 million of that money.
In his letter to the DA, the Acting Registrar of Members’ Interests Adv. X Gordon confirms that “the matter is being attended to and you will be notified of the outcome of the investigation once the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests has decided on the matter.”
"We welcome the speed in which the Ethics Committee responded to our complaint, and trust that the same expeditiousness will be applied to the investigation," the DA said.
MP, Phumzile Van Damme said: "We call on the Ethics Committee to conduct a hearing and it be open to the public given the public interest in the matter, and to as per the Code of Conduct:"
Van Damme said on Thursday that the committee must call witnesses; summon any person to appear before it to give evidence on oath or affirmation; and
summon any person to produce any relevant documents.
"We look forward to the investigation, and if any wrongdoing found, the harshest sanction be meted out against Shivambu on behalf of the thousands of poor people whose money was stolen in the VBS Heist."
STAND BY OUR MAN
The EFF said yesterday that the party stands by Floyd Shivambu amid allegations that he pocketed funds illegally paid from the Venda Building Society (VBS).
Malema said Shivambu had taken the leadership of the party into his confidence on the VBS matter and they had no reason not to believe him.
“The deputy president of the EFF Floyd Shivambu has taken the EFF leadership into confidence in relation to VBS media claims and we have no reason to doubt him,” said Malema.
The VBS report was released on Wednesday and detailed how R1.89 billion from the bank was illegally received by 53 people between 2015 and 2018.
Various politically connected individuals have been listed as benefactors of the illegal payments which left thousands of the bank's customers destitute a few months ago.