The DA says it will report EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu to parliament’s ethics committee following reports that VBS loot – via Grand Azania – might have financed his wedding. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said Shivambu, who is also the EFF’s chief whip, has never declared to parliament that he received donations from the company, which is owned by his brother Brian, who has been fingered for receiving about R16m from VBS.
Steenhuisen said parliament should investigate Shivambu’s conduct. We will be reporting Mr Shivambu to the ethics committee of parliament for an investigation. This is not the first time that media reports implicate EFF members, and Shivambu in particular, in gross allegations of theft related to the VBS Mutual Bank saga,” he said.
The money reportedly looted from VBS in this manner represents the life savings and retirement nest eggs of ordinary South Africans, and especially that of thousands of the inhabitants of the Limpopo province’s poverty-stricken rural areas. These are the very people that the EFF and Shivambu claim to represent. Steenhuisen said the only declarations Shivambu made in 2018 were for complimentary soccer tickets and cigars.
“The DA has ascertained that Shivambu made no declarations regarding interests in Grand Azania, or donations received from that company, or from VBS Mutual Bank, or any persons related thereto. In fact, in the 2017 register Shivambu declares no sponsorships, property, gifts, travel, consultancies, trusts, or benefits and interests of any kind,” he said. Steenhuisen added that even if Shivambu had declared the alleged benefits, the party would still have taken him to the ethics committee.
“Even if Shivambu had declared the money he is alleged to have received for his wedding expenses, the DA maintains that he would still be in breach of the code of conduct, which requires members of parliament, among other things, to always act in a manner that maintains public confidence and trust in the integrity of parliament,” he said.
In other news – IFP wants uMvoti mayor fired over R11.8m security bill
The Inkatha Freedom Party on Monday demanded that the mayor of uMvoti Thamsanqa Ngubane be fired over more than R11.86 million it said the municipality had spent on providing security for him since 2016.
In a statement, the party said the mayor must publicly disclose who had authorised the spending, who had conducted the assessment of his security and which security company had been awarded a tender to provide the protection services.Due processes were not followed therefore to spend R11.86 million on one person is tantamount to corruption,” the IFP said. Read more
Source: IOL
