The alleged mastermind in convincing Limpopo municipalities to invest in VBS Mutual Bank is lobbying for the ANC to change its step-aside rule — and wants all accused of corruption, even those who have not been charged, to step aside.
Danny Msiza, the former treasurer of the ANC in Limpopo, who was blocked from standing for election at the provincial conference last week, says it was wrong for the ANC national executive committee to “fiddle” with the ANC resolution adopted in Nasrec in 2017.
The ANC recently amended the step-aside rule to say those who face charges in a court of law should be barred from standing for any position in the party’s conferences from branch level, regional, provincial and national.
Msiza told Sunday Times in an interview this week that the continuous amending of the rule has “bastardised” it and has seen it lose its meaning “because you can't have a conference resolution that keeps getting refined every step of the way to suit subjective and factional political interests under the guise of renewal, instead of it being implemented consistently”, he said.
According to Msiza, the rule should go back to its original state that was agreed on and adopted at the 54th national congress in 2017. It resolved at that conference that to deal with corruption, crime and the overall image of the ANC, any of its members and leaders facing criminal or corruption charges must voluntarily step aside.
“The pertinent question is, why was it conveniently changed to say only those who are charged? There was no compelling quest why it must be suddenly changed. It should have just been left as it was — when there are serious allegations you must present yourself before the integrity commission and if it decides that you must step aside then you have to step aside. There was really no need to refine it,” Msiza said.
The pertinent question is, why was it conveniently changed to say only those who are charged? There was no compelling quest why it must be suddenly changed
Msiza is one of the accused in the looting scandal of the VBS Mutual Bank. He along with bank executives face a raft of charges including corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering. His charges emanate from a 148-page report on the looting of the VBS Mutual Bank, titled The Great Heist, in which advocate Terry Motau found a number of accounting issues that led to the collapse of the bank.
The report by Motau named Msiza as the kingpin who used his political influence to convince municipalities to invest millions in the now-defunct bank. However, the North Gauteng High Court later set aside all the findings against him.
Msiza said that the fact he has now been charged despite setting aside findings against him points to “toxic pathological hatred” by his political detractors who have “gleefully and hopelessly plotted his political demise”.
He is confident that he will be exonerated by the court as he has not stolen “a single cent” from the bank. “Even the commercial property loan that I took from VBS I continue to service to this day. At that stage I had an option of securing a loan from my regular bankers but I chose to support a black-owned bank.
“I have made peace that this unfortunate VBS matter has become an opportunistic and convenient instrument that my nemesis hope to harness in crafting my premature political obituary,” Msiza said in a wide-ranging interview.
“However, contrary to their relentless evil intentions and misdeeds consistently over four years, the majority of politically conscious members of the ANC in Limpopo are alive to their devious plots and remain unwavering in their belief in my innocence.
“The matter is before court, all issues will be adequately ventilated and I know that I will be exonerated because there's absolutely criminal deed I have committed.”
According to Msiza, lobbying is taking place to amend the step-aside rule to either its original state as per the resolution or that those affected by the rule should step aside only upon conviction, in line with the country’s constitution which confers innocence before conviction.
Since his election as ANC provincial treasurer in Limpopo for a four-term, Msiza has spent only 10 months in office, having continuously had to step aside. He decries that he is the only member of the ANC who has been affected by three versions of the rule — having had to initially step aside for two years when the Motau report was released, again when he was officially charged and more recently with the amendment that prohibited those who were charged from standing.
“So you must be blind if you can’t see that this is clear political persecution, this is clear victimisation by people who are drunk with artificial power and think they have divine right to destroy fellow members and their families.
“Unfortunately, to their utter dismay I remain resolute in selflessly serving the movement and our people without any expectation for reward. Hence, I have consciously resisted any government deployment for the past 22 years,” he said.
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