A week or so ago, Bantu Holomisa, the leader of the United Democratic Movement, wrote to the PIC Commission of Inquiry evidence leader, advocate Jannie Lubbe, claiming that the former chief executive of the Public Investment Corporation, Dr Dan Matjila, received an illicit loan of R5million from the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank.
If memory serves correct, VBS Mutual Bank, which was one of the only black-owned banks in South Africa at the time, was shut down after some directors and politically connected individuals looted more than R2 billion of people’s money.
Most of the funds that were lost came from pensioners and poor people who had made deposits and savings in the bank. Although much could have been done to save the bank and people’s investments, those who benefited looked the other way and allowed VBS Mutual Bank to collapse, along with ordinary citizens’ hard-earned money, hopes and dreams.
Fast forward to July 2019, and on the eve that Dan Matjila was set to provide his testimony at the PIC Commission of Inquiry, Holomisa strikes.
In his letter to Lubbe, Holomisa claims he is in possession of a report implicating Matjila in the VBS scandal. The report, from Nexus, allegedly states that Matjia received a loan of R2.5million.
This loan, with additions, amounts to R5m, and could be interpreted as a bribe. Under oath at the commission of inquiry, Matjila has steadfastly denied this allegation, dismissing it as a lie.
On his behalf, Matjila’s lawyer said: “It is concerning that a multimillion-rand investigation failed to pick up something as glaringly obvious as a loan to Matjila from VBS. Matjila has subjected himself to a lifestyle audit and nothing untoward has come out of that lifestyle audit. My client rejects the allegations as untrue.”
On Wednesday, he further reiterated that being linked to the VBS debacle was the lowest point of his leadership.
“I would like to categorically state that I welcome any investigation regarding this sorry saga. I consider it to be hearsay based on two people who are heavily implicated in the malfeasance at VBS,” Matjila said.
Commenting on the matter last week, Lubbe stated: “I have always considered it part of my duty to ensure that everyone is treated fairly to ensure there is no interference. I received a letter via email from the Honourable General Holomisa. I have placed the letter before the commission, which is dealing with an alleged facility from VBS Bank to Matjila.
“Soon afterwards, I received an email from a journalist asking me to comment on this matter. PwC has completed a lifestyle audit. There is no evidence of such a loan in the PwC lifestyle audit of Matjila. The commission’s forensic team will follow up and complete their own independent investigation.”
To date, advocate Terry Motau’s report did not find any conclusive evidence of such a loan, and neither did it substantiate the claims of the alleged R5m payment to Matjila. Then comes the so called Nexus report, in which there are now claims that there is evidence linking Matjila to the VBS scandal.
Interestingly, when Holomisa was approached to divulge his source and the full report, he only sent two pictures of the report; the story was then published but based mainly on the letter that he had submitted as evidence to the commission.
The letter was sent only after Holomisa was told by Lubbe that he would be implicated in Matjila’s testimony at the commission. When Holomisa was asked to release the full report, he replied: “I do not have it. However, I believe that the inquiry has a copy.”
Why then would Holomisa write a letter to the evidence leader stating that he has a report that he has not even seen? What is driving Holomisa’s misinformation agenda, which is now showing its hand at the Mpati-led Commission? It is evident that Holomisa has been peddling what could be termed as false information underhandedly to media houses and has refused to divulge who his sources of information are, especially when it comes to the Nexus report.
Also, he appears to be using the VBS saga, which has negatively affected so many people’s lives, ruining many of them, in order to serve a particular agenda and narrative.
What is his end game?
Remember, the PIC Commission of Inquiry was established because he (Holomisa) wrote a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting that a commission deal with a slew of allegations in which the PIC lost billions of rand in investments in some major transactions.
However, during the same period on which the terms of reference are based, Matjila grew the organisation into a R2trillion asset-management giant, which is now one of the largest in Africa.
Holomisa, on the other hand, has been found wanting under cross-
examination from Lebashe Investment, which exposed that he had made serious allegations against individuals and the company without having the facts to back his claims. He then left the burden of proof squarely on the shoulders of the commission.
The question is, who is Holomisa working with, and what is in it for him?
* Mdluli is the content editor for business and investigations at Independent Media