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The planned and repeated fraud, corruption and money laundering offences allegedly committed by EFF leaders Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu may meet the requirements for racketeering, as defined in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). That’s the crux of AfriForum chief executive, Kallie Kriel’s argument in the criminal complaint he filed today at the Sandton police station, asking the authorities to investigate the two politicians on a range of charges, and the political party as an organised crime enterprise. 

Kriel’s affidavit refers to recent revelations made by Tshifhiwa Matodzi, former chair of VBS Mutual Bank, in his witness statement presumably submitted as part of a plea agreement. “This alleged criminal conduct should no longer be considered in isolation from the so-called ‘VBS scandal’ suspects, but should also include the suspicious, and in my opinion unexplored, accusations that point to the EFF political party as an enterprise, as defined in POCA.

“I submit that the publicly available documented information constitutes enough reasonable suspicion of the establishment of an EFF enterprise as determined by POCA and a history of planned, ongoing and repeated participation or involvement in criminal conduct by these individuals. This requires diligent and steadfast intervention by the authorities in a manner where they live up to the expectation that they will conduct their constitutional obligations without fear, favour or prejudice,” said Kriel. 

POCA defines a “pattern of racketeering activity” as the “planned, ongoing, repeated or continuous participation” in any of the over 30 crimes listed in the law’s first schedule. These include corruption, fraud, extortion, and murder. To establish such a pattern, one needs to show that at least two offences were committed within a 10-year period and that they were related.    

An “enterprise” is defined as including any “individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other juristic person or legal entity, as well as any union or group of individuals associated in fact”.  

AfriForum is urging the authorities to look at the bigger picture and broaden their investigation to include previous allegations of theft, money laundering, fraud, and corruption.  These begin with the party’s registration with alleged proceeds of crime, followed by allegations that it benefited from large tenders awarded in metros, and allegedly used the party’s resources to fund their lifestyles. The most recent revelations, which have been in the public domain for years and make for an uncomplicated case, paint the clearest picture yet of what may be identified as ongoing criminal conduct.

Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, says the unit has been briefed to monitor progress on the case, and take steps if the authorities fail to act. “There must be equality before the law. Unfortunately, we have not seen this in the state’s investigation and prosecution of Julius Malema and other EFF leaders. The same reluctance to pursue Malema was seen in the On Point Engineering case, where the Private Prosecution Unit continues to query why the National Prosecuting Authority has not moved forward with the trial.  

“It is inexplicable, given all of the available evidence, that the Asset Forfeiture Unit has not used the legal mechanisms in POCA to seize assets such as bank accounts, property, and vehicles suspected of being purchased with criminal proceeds. The irresistible inference is that Malema and Shivambu are for whatever reason sheltered from prosecution and related processes,” Nel said.

Issued by AfriForum