Heat is on for ‘sons of the soil’

Another week, another VBS Mutual Bank-sponsored spending spree by the EFF exposed. The heat continues to rise on the intrepid "sons of the soil".

And the temperature is not a result of revolutionary fervour, but further damning allegations in both the Sunday Times and the Daily Maverick of how Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu spent money looted from VBS Mutual Bank to bankroll their lifestyles and their party.

The latest exposé in the Daily Maverick shows how party deputy president Shivambu spent money looted from the poor, not only on Gucci goods, a Range Rover and a birthday trip to Zambia, but also on so-called philanthropic deeds to build support for the EFF.

The 11-month probe showed Shivambu was the "directing hand" and main beneficiary of two companies, Sgameka Projects and Grand Azania, which received about R16.1m in VBS loot, which he used as slush funds.

As evidence mounts against Shivambu and Malema — who was the subject of a similar report in the Sunday Times linking him to another company, Santaclara Trading, ostensibly used as a slush fund — questions are emerging over why law enforcement agencies have not yet acted against the pair.

EFF supporters have naturally defended their leaders, arguing that the looting is but a fraction of the R2bn heist at VBS — arguably the most tragic and crass in SA’s history, as the money belonged mostly to the poor and pensioners.

With growing evidence in the public domain, the noise from the party’s social media army is likely to get louder before the National Prosecuting Authority finally acts against them.