DA to report Floyd Shivambu to Parliament’s Ethics Committee

7 October 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken note of recent media reports that allege that Floyd Shivambu - Deputy President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and a Member of Parliament - used funds looted from the VBS Mutual Bank to pay for expenses related to his luxurious wedding celebrations in April 2017. We will be reporting Mr Shivambu to the Ethics Committee of Parliament for an investigation.

This is not the first time that media reports implicate EFF members, and Shivambu in particular, in gross allegations of theft related to the VBS Mutual Bank saga. The money reportedly looted from VBS in this manner represent the life savings and retirement nest eggs of ordinary South Africans, and especially that of thousands of the inhabitants of the Limpopo Province’s poverty-stricken rural areas. These are the very people that the EFF and Shivambu claim to represent.

The DA has ascertained that Shivambu made no declarations regarding interests in Grand Azania, or donations received from that company or from VBS Mutual Bank or any persons related thereto. In fact, in the 2017 register Shivambu declares no sponsorships, property, gifts, travel, consultancies, trusts, or benefits and interests of any kind. His 2018 declarations contain only gifts of soccer tickets and cigars.

Even if Shivambu had declared the money he is alleged to have received for his wedding expenses, the DA maintains that he would still be in breach of the code of conduct, which requires Members of Parliament, amongst other things, to always act in a manner that maintains public confidence and trust in the integrity of Parliament. It also requires that Members adhere to values such as integrity, openness and honesty. Shivambu’s reported actions clearly betrays the trust of thousands of voters who believed that the EFF cares about them.

The most recent allegations linking the EFF and VBS demonstrates clearly, once again, that the EFF do not walk the talk, and that they care very little for the ordinary people of South Africa. It is for this reason that the DA will be reporting Mr. Shivambu to the Ethics Committee. We believe that Members of Parliament should at all times conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the trust placed in them by the voters that elected them, instead of using their position as an opportunity for self-enrichment.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 7 October 2019