The African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) has resolved that the party will return any VBS Mutual Bank monies proven to have been amassed, unknowingly, from the destruction of VBS.

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula addressed the media on Thursday, on the outcomes of the recently concluded ANC NEC meeting and the party's lekgotla, where he noted that the NEC reaffirmed its position that all those implicated for wrongdoing in the VBS matter must be subjected to the full course of the law.

Last month, former VBS board chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi revealed that the Economic Freedom Fighters received monthly donations and a so-called business loan of millions of rands from VBS, since 2017, through a front company, Sgameka Projects.

He alleged that R5-million was originally paid, followed by monthly donations of R1-million and a R4-million loan.

He also claimed that in 2016, ANC treasurer-general at the time Zweli Mkhize had requested R2-million from the bank to pay an ANC supplier.

Matodzi was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 33 charges relating to the VBS Mutual Bank heist.

The ANC noted that VBS account holders "now want their bank back", and said all efforts by relevant stakeholders should be made towards ensuring that the bank is restored to full operation and returned to its legitimate owners.

The ANC NEC reaffirmed its stance on processing without delays all allegations of impropriety through the National Disciplinary Committee, particularly those arising from the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State.

TRANSFORMATION AGENDA

Mbalula acknowledged that the ANC did not receive a decisive majority in the May national and provincial election results, and said the party must focus on defending and advancing the agenda of progressive social transformation.

“In diagnosing the moment, the ANC NEC agrees that the national fault-lines of unemployment, inequality and poverty have persisted despite progress over the past 30 years, with serious negative impacts on all segments of the motive forces,” he explained.

The ANC NEC resolved to use the Government of National Unity (GNU) to “shed signs of complacency” and arrogance and be “totally intolerant of corruption and incompetence”.

Mbalula pointed out that the ANC seized the tactical and strategic initiative and shaped a common understanding about the need for political parties to work together under the GNU and to voluntarily cooperate in setting up an inclusive, viable and stable government that would address people’s needs and advance the transformation agenda.