Johannesburg - The ANC says "heads must roll" regarding the shocking revelations in the VBS report which shows how money was stolen from VBS Bank.
The ANC's head of elections Fikile Mbalula said the report is devastating and "alarming" for the country but especially for the poor who have been the hardest hit by the bank "heist".
The VBS report was released on Wednesday 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.
A number of politicians from the ANC and the EFF have been implicated in the report. EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu's brother, Brian, has been listed as a benefactor after he received R16 million from the bank. The Daily Maverick reported that the EFF had received R1.3 million of the funds while Shivambu received R10 million for himself.
The Hawks have confirmed that a criminal investigation is underway regarding the matter.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said law enforcement officials had to act regardless of which political party was involved.
"We won't let an issue like this slide without any decisive response from our part. There are other individuals who could be of a different political standing and the arm of the law should take course regardless of who is involved," said Mabe.
Some officials of the ANC in Limpopo have been implicated in the report and the ANC in the province was said to be meeting on Thursday to discuss the matter. The ANC's national working committee is also expected to discuss the report when it meets on Monday.
"Where there has been wrongdoing, heads must roll. This involves monies of ordinary people on the ground. These are resources that could have been invested in infrastructure to benefit the people in those communities. We won't let an issue like this slide without any decisive response from our part," said Mabe.