A "fraudulent" application for a home loan with VBS Mutual Bank has cast light on what appears to be a slush fund to channel money to the EFF or its leader, Julius Malema.
An analysis of records obtained during an investigation into the looting of VBS bank shows that a company called Santaclara Trading received deposits totalling millions of rands from Malema's lawyer, other companies doing work for the government in Limpopo, and the EFF itself.
Santaclara's bank statements for March to September 2017, which the Sunday Times has seen and which were submitted to VBS as part of its bond application, detail "concerning" payments made mostly in multiples of R100,000 into the company's account.
In March 2017 alone, Malema's attorney Ian Levitt appears to have deposited R300,000 into the account. Levitt declined to comment this week on "matters which are clearly privileged and confidential".
Another depositor was LTE Consulting, the company behind the controversial R2.2bn project to supply water to Limpopo, which deposited R200,000 into the account.
In total, just over R4m in payments into Santaclara's account have been flagged as "concerning" in an accompanying analysis of the statements.
Malema's deputy, Floyd Shivambu, through his company Grand Azania, allegedly received R1.1m from VBS and a further R3.3m from a company belonging to his brother. Brian Shivambu's Sgameka Projects received a R4m loan from VBS in 2017, R1.78m of which it has been ordered to repay.
However, an analysis of the flow of funds into Grand Azania, shows it paid R500,000 to Santaclara. This would suggest that money from VBS - which folded after being looted out of almost R2bn at the expense of poor account-holders and struggling municipalities - found its way into Malema's or the EFF's hands through Santaclara.
Malema told the Sunday Times yesterday that he has "no relationship with" Santaclara, which is "involved in all types of businesses".
"They are young boys who are trying to find their feet and there is no VBS for Santaclara, there is no such a thing," he said.
"They have never received money of VBS. Those boys work hard, they hire out sound systems, hire out tents and they hire out furniture and they are legitimate traders, but because of their association with me, you guys want to destroy them. Go on."
In its bond application to VBS, Santaclara is listed as a catering business, but an accompanying analysis states it was "a company structured for the purpose of concealing payments to EFF leaders".
Santaclara came to light after its director, Malema's cousin Phumi 'Jimmy' Matlebyane, applied for a bond to buy a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house for R3.2m in a gated complex in the upmarket Polokwane suburb of Bendor.
Matlebyane, 27, is a DJ who also goes by the name of Jimmy-fire Malema. On his Facebook profile he states that for the past year he has worked as the "resident DJ" at Mekete Boutique and Events, the Malema family-owned events venue outside Polokwane.
He is also the director of Vuur Trading and Projects, registered to the Sandton address of a house Malema rented before the EFF bought it. It is the EFF's registered address.
Malema confirmed Matlebyane is his cousin, but denied any "relationship with Santaclara. I have a relationship with Jimmy".
When Matlebyane first applied for his VBS bond in October 2017, he listed his income as R5,000 a month and his expenses as R2,400. But later that same day, his loan application was "amended and redrafted" to state that he earned 30 times more than that and was thus well able to afford the R34,000 monthly bond repayments.
"The VBS staff member amended the loan application to reflect an income of R154,999 in order to get the bond approved. This was done fraudulently in order for the applicant to qualify for the loan," the analysis states.
Santaclara came to light because Matlebyane's bond application was e-mailed to a VBS manager by another of Malema's cousins, Phaleng Matsobane, who is the director of Mahuna Investments, which was reported to be a slush fund for Malema.
Last month, AmaBhungane reported that a fleet management company with a R1.2bn contract with the City of Johannesburg bought a tractor for the EFF and donated R500,000 to Mahuna.
It also reported that the company, called Afrirent, deposited R150,000 into Santaclara's account last year. Afrirent denied the allegations.
In his bond application, Matlebyane listed his home address as a house in Zone 3, Seshego, Polokwane. But when the Sunday Times visited this week, the people who live there had no idea who he was.
Santaclara is registered to another address in Zone 3, and the people who live there knew nothing about the business either.
"This is my house!" exclaimed an elderly woman who said she had lived there for decades. "I don't know of any Matlebyane and there is no one of that name who lives in this street."
However, an identical address to that of Santaclara, but situated in Seshego's Zone 1, is the home in which Malema grew up.
Malema confirmed this, saying: "Santaclara is registered in my grandmother's house address because that is where Jimmy resides, we all reside there, we all were born there and we all grew up there."
Matlebyane did not answer his phone this week, but responded to an SMS seeking comment. He asked for questions to be sent to him - which he forwarded back to the Sunday Times twice in error - but did not respond to them.
Santaclara's bank statements appear to show that Levitt deposited two amounts - of R100,000 and R200,000 - in March 2017 alone.
These payments appear to have been made at times when Santaclara was heavily overdrawn on its account. As soon as those deposits were made, the money was quickly disbursed.
The day Levitt's first R100,000 payment was made, an amount of R150,000 was paid to the South African Revenue Service. Six days later, a further R50,000 was paid to Sars.
Levitt's last known payment to Santaclara was of R50,000, made two months later.
On Friday, Levitt responded by WhatsApp message: "I have considered your enquiry. It is my firm's policy never to publicly comment on matters which are clearly privileged and confidential. The same applies to your queries. No one will ever come between my clients and me. Not now. Not ever.
"I know of no law that obliges me to disclose to the press why I have made payments for or on behalf of any of my clients. All of my rights and those of my clients are expressly and unconditionally reserved."
Do you see any money to Julius Malema? You will never find me in any of those things. I know the desperation is to get me; you will never get me
— Julius Malema
However, Malema said he knew nothing of the payments from Levitt, saying: "I would not know [of] Ian having paid them . [Santaclara] trades with a lot of people, some of them I do not even know them. I do not run their day-to-day business."
LTE's payments were made in two tranches of R100,000 each, in May and August 2017. LTE spokesperson Karabo Gaongalelwe did not respond to questions.
The analysis, however, questions why Matlebyane, who initially declared a monthly income of R5,000, would have an account reflecting that "large sums are received from attorney trust accounts (Ian Levitt Attorneys) and LTE Consulting Services".
"This specific account is similarly structured as Mahuna Investments in order to conceal payments for EFF leader Julius Malema," it states.
Another payment, made in May 2017, was for R150,000 for "EFF posters".
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi confirmed the party deposited money into Santaclara's account. "The company is one of our service providers and we use it from time to time for things like posters, sound hire and events management among other things. We once used it as a proxy to register one of our vehicles and car rentals," he said.
Malema said Santaclara bought, printed and sold T-shirts for the EFF.
"I see young people who are trying to make a living. They are not folding their arms saying there is unemployment. Santaclara has no tender with Tshwane or Joburg or anywhere where EFF has got influence."
Malema said he was "not the one who does procurement in the EFF, I do politics", and that the EFF "has its own procurement policies" in which he is not involved.
Asked if he derived any personal benefit from Santaclara, he said "Akere [right?], you have people's bank statements, so you tell me. Do you see any money to Julius Malema? You will never find me in any of those things. I know the desperation is to get me; you will never get me. Why would I be so loose when I know the vultures are out to get me?"
This week, all appeared to be quiet at the large two-storey Bendor house that Santaclara apparently bought with its VBS loan.
The Sunday Times was unable to establish whether or not the loan was being serviced.
A security guard at the complex said: "There hasn't been anyone living here for months. The last people who lived here were the previous owners. The only person who comes here from time to time is a lady who cleans the place."
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