Former VBS boss Robert Madzonga celebrates as arrests skip him

As eight executives embroiled in the VBS Mutual Bank saga filed into the dock this week, there was one former boss who was not among them.

Robert Madzonga, former chief operating officer of the bank and CEO of its parent company, Vele Investments, said that his being left out when his former colleagues were arrested can mean only one thing - that he is innocent.

Madzonga, once branded the "mastermind" of the VBS scandal in which the bank lost R2.7bn belonging mainly to poor Limpopo residents and struggling municipalities, lived a life of excess with a Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce Phantom paraded by his then wife on Instagram.

The lawyer who has since become a pastor told the Sunday Times: "The arrest of the VBS eight has vindicated me and it proves what I have been saying all along - that I did not steal a cent.

"If there was something against me, I also would have been picked up by now. This round focused on people who ran the bank and Vele Investments. I was one of them. In fact, at some point, I was once branded as the mastermind. But I can tell you, there is nothing against me. I am happy and I feel vindicated."

He has now petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal directly to overturn his sequestration, applied for by VBS curators and granted by the high court in Johannesburg, saying he believes the fact he has not been arrested strengthens his case.

However, it may be too early for Madzonga to celebrate. This week's arrests by the Hawks resulted from the first round of the investigation. A second phase is now under way in which Madzonga could well feature.

• R2.7bn - The amount stolen from VBS Mutual Bank

• R30m - The amount Robert Madzonga received, according to advocate Terry Motau’s report.

—  in numbers

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said: "The investigation continues, and we will follow every piece of credible evidence."

It was a dramatic week for former VBS chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi, CEO Andile Ramavhunga, chief financial officer Philip Truter, treasurer Phophi Mukhodobwane and board member Avashoni Ramikosi, who were arrested on Wednesday with ex-KPMG audit partner Sipho Malaba and the Public Investment Corporation representatives to the bank, Ernest Nesane and Paul Magula. 

The men, who all pleaded not guilty, appeared dishevelled in the dock of the Palm Ridge regional court in Katlehong, Gauteng, on Thursday after spending the night in the cells.

They pleaded poverty, saying they could not afford the R100,000 bail set by magistrate Brian Nemavhidi.

Most were freed on Thursday, but bail receipts show Malaba and Nesane found the money only on Friday.

Forty-two prosecution witnesses have been lined up to testify in the case, which returns to court on October 8, including Reserve Bank deputy governor and Prudential Authority head Kuben Naidoo, who has been intimately involved in the investigation and placed the bank under curatorship.

Curator Anooshkumar Rooplal, Werksmans Attorneys boss Bernard Hotz, Hawks anti-corruption task team head Brig Zama Basi and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's Mpho Gama are also set to testify.

The Great Bank Heist report, compiled by advocate Terry Motau on behalf of curators appointed in March 2018, said that Madzonga benefited by as much as R30m from Vele Investments, receiving the money in 11 payments from VBS accounts between July 2016 and February 2018.

Madzonga defended the payments, saying they included a R10m home loan, R5m in finance for six cars, a R5m signing-on bonus and a R500,000 monthly salary.

Last year, Madzonga was at the centre of a social media storm when his then wife, Khosi, an aspiring Mrs SA contestant, flaunted their Brabus Mercedes-Benz G63, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce Phantom. Madzonga, who lives in the exclusive Blue Hills Country Estate near Midrand, said he bought the cars when he worked for MTN.

Rooplal applied for Madzonga's sequestration alongside those of Matodzi, Ramavhunga, Truter and Mukhodobwane. The rest of the men have had their assets seized.

Among the assets taken from Matodzi are a palatial home at Eagle Canyon Golf Estate in Roodepoort, a 2017 Range Rover, a Ferrari, a Porsche, a Mercedes and a BMW.

A source close to Matodzi told the Sunday Times he has lost everything and now uses a car borrowed from a relative.

An affidavit by Hawks investigating officer Ludi Schnelle says Matodzi is unemployed and lives with his wife in Bryanston, northern Johannesburg. Ramavhunga lives with his wife in the exclusive Cedar Creek estate in Fourways. Schnelle says he works from home and owns a Land Rover, an Audi and an Alfa Romeo. Mukhodobwane still owns an Audi and a Mercedes-Benz.