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The DA in Limpopo welcomes the arrest of a businessman and two officials of the Greater Giyani Local municipality by the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) yesterday.

The two senior officials and the businessman will appear in the Giyani Magistrates Court today for alleged fraud and violations of the MFMA for their involvement in the illegal deposit of municipal funds into the now defunct VBS Bank.

The Greater Giyani Municipality lost R161 million that was illegally invested in VBS.

Earlier this week the Auditor General released her report into the Material Irregularities in Local Government which addressed amongst other the non-compliance with, or contravention of, legislation, fraud, theft   that resulted in a material financial loss, the misuse or loss of a material public resource for the 2021/22 financial year.

R1.6 billion was invested into VBS  by 13 municipalities, the majority from Limpopo and only R109,43 (7%) was recovered through the liquidation of VBS.

This means that these municipalities, including Giyani, which are some of the poorest and worst-run in the country, is unlikely to ever see these deposits again – funds that were intended for service delivery.

The DA welcomes the 32 arrests and 3 convictions to date, but calls on the Hawks to expedite their investigation into the politicians and their relatives who were criminally involved in the VBS bank heist ;these cadres deprived rural municipalities of millions which could have been used to improve the lives of thousands of people.

Only the DA is actively fighting against and can stop corruption. When in government we will ensure that  guilty cadres are met with the full force of the law and not a job in the public service.

Issued by Lindy Wilson MPL - DA Provincial Spokesperson for CoGHSTA