AfriForum as filed a criminal charge against the Economic Freedom Fighters' Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu following allegations that the men received payments from the VBS Bank.
They want the authorities to broaden the scope of 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,” the advocacy group said.
The case stems from the allegations made by former VBS chairperson, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, contained in a leaked court affidavit, that Malema and Shivambu have links to the looting of VBS through Sgameka Projects (PTY) LTD, a company registered under the name of Shivambu’s younger brother, Brian Shivambu.
AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel called on police to investigate the two politicians on a range of charges, and the political party as an organised crime enterprise.
"I submit that the publicly available documented information constitutes enough reasonable suspicion of the establishment of an EFF enterprise as determined by Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) and a history of planned, ongoing and repeated participation or involvement in criminal conduct by these individuals," Kriel said.
Head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, advocate Gerrie Nel said 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,” he said.
Nel added that it was 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.
Malema has, meanwhile, maintained his innocence amid the allegations. He did, however, state that the EFF was not involved in the downfall of the bank and that there was no evidence to back up the claims against him and Shivambu.
IOL News