/ 21 November 2018

VBS saga: ANC members found guilty must face ‘wrath of the law’ – NWC

Ignored: Supporters of ANC secretary general Ace Magashule say a faction in the ANC that backs President Cyril Ramaphosa is trying to undermine his authority.
“Me and comrade Cyril Ramaphosa won’t allow any wedge drivers to come between us. We stay focused, and we are going to work together in the interest of the people of South Africa,” says ?ANC secretary general Ace Magashule

ANC members who are found guilty of wrongdoing in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal must face the full wrath of the law, the party’s national working committee (NWC) said on Tuesday.

“The NWC has urged the national integrity commission to expedite meeting with all comrades who may be implicated in the VBS report to effect finality and completeness of the process as directed by the NEC (national executive committee),” the NWC said in a statement after its meeting on Monday.

More than 50 people have been implicated in the recent report into large-scale fraud at the bank, following its collapse earlier this year.

Advocate Terry Motau headed an investigation into the bank’s collapse. The report is titled The Great Bank Heist .

READ MORE: ANC integrity commission calls for VBS implicated to step down

In the statement issued by secretary general Ace Magashule, the NWC reiterated the stance of the party’s NEC and affirmed “its dismay with the impact of the VBS issues on the lives of ordinary people across the country and restated its position that those found guilty of wrongdoing must face the wrath of the law”.

The committee said it supported the ongoing work of the Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s commission of inquiry into state capture “to uncover the truth and prevent its blight from happening again”.

“The ANC is cooperating with the commission and has encouraged its members to come forward should they have information that could be helpful to [the] work of the commission,” the statement said.

On the North West’s Matlosana Municipality, the NWC said it received a report from deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte on undertakings made to return the municipality to normalcy following the “abrupt” and “unsanctioned” removal of an ANC mayor by party councillors in collusion with opposition.

The municipality’s executive mayor Maetu Kgaile, was voted out through a motion of no confidence tabled by the EFF on October 25.

“The NWC agreed that an unmandated collusion with the opposition is a dismissible offence and cannot be tolerated. The NWC accepted the intervention made through the ANC secretary general’s office (SGO) leading to the reinstatement of the mayor of Matlosana Municipality as well as immediate efforts to roll out a programme of action taking council to communities.”

READ MORE: Integrity’s bark worse than its bite

The NWC also welcomed the national dispute resolution committee’s report endorsing the Eastern Cape provincial executive committee decision on the disbandment of the Nelson Mandela regional executive committee (REC), following an appeal by the REC.

The NWC urged the PEC to establish an all-inclusive regional task team.

It further noted the implementation of the NEC decision directing Andile Lungisa to resign as a member of the mayoral committee of the Nelson Mandela Metro and remain as an ordinary councillor until his court appeal process was concluded. — News24