Limpopo premier won’t act on MEC over bank heist

Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba says she will not remove ANC Limpopo deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani — now the MEC for social development — from her provincial cabinet despite allegations that she played a part in the collapse of  VBS Mutual Bank.

Those people who lost money during the VBS heist have urged Ramathuba to remove Radzilani in terms of the ANC‘s step-aside rule until she clears her name.

Ramathuba told the Mail & Guardian last week that she would not remove any member of the executive council without guidance from the policies of the ANC. 

“Where you want to push me is to do things that are not in line with what the ANC does, you will be the one coming back saying are you now operating in a factional line,” she said.

Victims of the VBS debacle made the call to Ramathuba after the bank’s former chairperson, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, agreed to a plea deal with the National Prosecuting Authority, resulting in a 15-year sentence.

His leaked affidavit implicated Radzilani, but the premier said it was difficult for her to force the MEC to step aside, because the ANC rule compels only those who have actually been criminally charged to relinquish their positions or stop participating in party activities until they clear their names. 

Radzilani has not yet been charged.

Ramathuba would also risk being accused of fanning factionalism should she simply remove Radzilani without following the ANC’s processes. 

The new premier said the same set of regulations should apply to ANC deployees in all provinces, and not to Limpopo alone.

“What does the ANC policy say on step aside? Does it say she must step aside or does it say she must be removed? We must allow policies that we have adopted to be implemented,” Ramathuba said.

“When you ask me to implement something that is not in line with the ANC policies, what are you trying to say to me? We must allow policies that we have adopted to be implemented.”

Ramathuba said factionalism should not come into play when appointing people into government. 

“We do not appoint people because they agree with us or because they are our praise singers,” she said. “We appoint people because of their quality.”

She said ANC members were expected to step aside of their own volition if they were charged, rather than premiers or the president having to recall them.

Ramathuba said the ANC was not short of policies that could be invoked if any party member was charged over the VBS matter.

“So far we have not been given a directive that there could be anyone that is charged by the court of law who should step aside,” she said. 

“I am one of those people who has been fighting for the people who have lost their money because I’m personally affected because I know people who have lost their last savings.”

Ramathuba also said she stood by the remarks she made in 2022, as Limpopo’s health MEC, when she was shown on video telling a Zimbabwean scheduled for surgery that her country’s government should take responsibility for the procedure.

In the video, which went viral on social media, Ramathuba said Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa did not contribute to Limpopo’s health budget, telling the patient: “You are supposed to be with Mnangagwa. You are killing my health system. When you guys are sick you just say, let’s cross the Limpopo River, there’s an MEC there who’s running a charity department.”

“In Limpopo, we have 5.7 million people, 91% do not have medical aid, they are dependent on the state … 9% have medical aids. Instead of using the budget for what it’s meant for … you are not even registered anywhere, you are illegal … This is unfair.”

During her interview last week with the M&G, she defended her comments, which at the time drew criticism, including from the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

“I never denied any pregnant woman to give birth. Any pregnant woman, if they are in labour, [even if they are in South Africa] illegally or not in terms of the law, we do assist them to give birth. But I had challenged a chronic person who comes for an operation that even South Africans with medical aid, their medical aid refuses to pay.

“I was saying I come with initiatives to bring specialists from all over the country to come and operate and then you cross the border illegally, bribe our staff to jump the queue and our own people are still backward.

“At the beginning of the year, children cross the border with their parents to collect books and cross back. People come from one hospital to another collecting ARVs and even sell them to the other side. How selfish.

“The laws must be implemented. Anybody who is in the country must follow the proper processes and be in the country legally so that even when we plan, we plan for you.”

Ramathuba said she was happy that there was now a debate in parliament about the reservation and protection of lower-skilled jobs for South Africans.

“If you heard Minister [Gwede] Mantashe during his debate, he was very clear that if you move into restaurants, you will find that we don’t have South Africans working in those restaurants,” Ramathuba said.

“Does it mean South Africans cannot work in a restaurant or are the captains of the industry looking for cheap labour? When we have them [foreign nationals] working as domestic workers, does it mean we do not have South Africans?”