JOHANNESBURG - The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Thursday, called for a probe into the banking industry in the wake of the explosive report in the VBS Mutual Bank showing the extensive looting of almost R2 billion by executives and their associates.
"Now would be an opportune moment for President Cyril Ramphosa to establish a national task team to assess the banking practices of all banks, particularly the adherence to regulations, and determine the collusion and corruption among banks," the party said.
"The damning report into VBS bank and the scale of looting by government officials, political parties and bank officials must see urgent action taken by law enforcement authorities. Those implicated must face the full might of the law."
The IFP said it believes that the country needed a specialised court to deal with corruption allegations relating to the transgression of regulations such as the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA) , Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and other national Treasury regulations.
Advocate Terry Motau's report on the demise of VBS found that some 50 people "gratuitously" received R1.894 billion from the bank over a three-year period starting in March 2015. Most of that money flowed to VBS executives and entities linked to them, notably Vele Investments, resulting in the "significant impoverishment" of the bank's depositors.