Soviet Lekganyane (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Antonio Muchave)
The ANC’s outgoing provincial secretary in Limpopo has described his term in office as the most difficult four years of his political career, saying it was only his position that saved his life during the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, which saw taxpayers fleeced of more than R2-billion.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Soviet Lekganyane, who will be vying for another term as the chief administrator in his province, said he endured a barrage of insults when he spoke out about the extensive corruption in his party.
He said he had taken a stand when his comrades, including those he was elected with as provincial officials, were implicated in looting VBS.
“I have been in the provincial executive committee [PEC] of the ANC for 14 years, these have been the most difficult four years in the organisation. You know, speaking the truth, it’s a very, very difficult thing to do in leadership, [more so] when you speak the truth in a meeting where the truth that you speak involves your colleagues. The cost of fighting corruption is heavier than the cost of corruption.”
In 2018, the South African Reserve Bank placed VBS under curatorship after it emerged that billions of rands from, among others, municipalities and stokvels, burial societies and other savings clubs in Limpopo, North West and Gauteng, was looted.
Several prominent ANC leaders were implicated in the web of fraudulent transactions in what would be one of the most shocking scandals to hit the ANC.
Fourteen accused are facing 188 counts of corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering. The list includes outgoing ANC provincial treasurer Danny Msiza, who was portrayed as a kingpin in the scheme that saw 53 people take a total of R1.89-billion in spoils from the bank’s coffers.
So elaborate was the plunder, the state asserted, that four executives allegedly stole R262-million in 12 days during March 2017, “by creating fictitious credits” in 35 VBS accounts.
Lekganyane recalled how some of his comrades in the PEC saw “nothing wrong” with municipalities investing in the bank, adding that this has forever divided the provincial leadership. He believes that PEC members acted in common purpose when they defended party leaders implicated in corruption.
“It has caused very serious divisions within the structures of the ANC in the province … The problem is when the people who do these things are unrepentant, even when there is step aside, they still want to resist the step-aside policy of the ANC because [they believe] there’s nothing wrong with what they did.
“The problem that we have today is because the provincial secretary is the one who talks about corruption, he has become an opposition to the ANC-led government because people want to keep quiet, even when corruption happens,” he said of himself.
Lekganyane believes it was his position that saved his life during what he described as a “tough time” in the ANC.
“If you are unlucky you will get killed. Maybe the provincial secretary of the ANC, the reason why he could not be a target or the reason why a decision could not be taken that maybe he must be eliminated was because people just thought this will plunge the province [into chaos] and we’ll all be losers.
“But I can tell you with the approach that we have taken in the last four years, you wouldn’t survive it. I can tell you now that it is only the position of the provincial secretary that has saved my life, because it’s a very, very prominent position in the province,” he said.
In June last year, the province was hit by violence when the ANC was selecting its council candidates during branch general meetings. Two people were shot and 16 others injured during meetings in the Waterberg region. This compelled the ANC in Waterberg to call off all its activities in the Lephalale sub-region until security was stabilised.
Waterberg regional spokesperson Matome Taueatsoala described the incident as resembling the storyline of a Hollywood movie, saying they received reports that the attackers followed their victims to the Witpoort Hospital, where nurses and doctors had to run “for dear life”.
In September 2021, the Sunday World reported that Lekganyane was held hostage by angry ANC members who were baying for his blood after a dispute over the nomination of ward councillor candidates.
The province is expected to hold its elective conference this weekend. Lekgayane said security would be heightened. He said state security would also be used because President Cyril Ramaphosa, or his deputy David Mabuza, are expected to close the conference.
“Of course we are worried, we don’t take things for granted. There are things which we never imagined we would see happening in the province. I mean, somebody came from Swaziland to come and shoot ANC comrades and kill them.”
Despite threats of court action should the conference go ahead, the province has reached its 70% threshold to elect new leaders. He said that 398 branches must qualify for the province to hold its conference. It is expected that more than 500 branches will congregate in Polokwane on 3 June.
Although Lekganyane refused to be drawn into discussions about the ANC’s national conference in December, he praised Ramaphosa as a “beloved child” of the province.
Ramaphosa has already received endorsements from the provincial chairpersons in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
Although Ramaphosa has never recognised Limpopo as his home, acknowledging his Soweto upbringing instead, Lekganyane called the president a “brother and neighbour” that the province wanted to emulate.
“The president is not a stranger to the people of the province. So we know him very well. We look upon him as our role model for young leaders of the ANC from the province, that’s what I can say. We love Ramaphosa. We admire him for his achievements. To us he is a role model … We wish we could have many other leaders coming from rural areas in the province.
“When many leaders of the ANC are bending their spines, when they must [instead] speak about integrity and moral uprightness, he is counted among the very few in the current generation who can stand up publicly and say, this is not what we mean by leading the people. To us it inspires courage.”
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