ANC, EFF welcome VBS arrests
The African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have welcomed the arrests of eight suspects fingered in the looting of the VBS Mutual Bank.
The arrests follow simultaneous search-and-seizure operations by the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Gauteng and Limpopo on Wednesday.
Four of the suspects were arrested on Wednesday, while the other three are expected to hand themselves over soon.
The eighth suspect is still recovering from COVID-19 at a quarantine site and will appear in court as soon as he has recovered.
"The National African Congress notes and welcomes the development regarding the VBS matter," says the party's national spokesperson Pule Mabe.
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"We now hope that the NPA will move with the matter to make sure that they bring finality to this matter."
Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Delisile Ngwenya says they hope the arrests will put to an end to speculation around the involvement of the party's leadership.
"We welcome these arrests because an opportunity will be presented in neutral courts of law to present hard facts and evidence, thereby removing the media campaign and slander that has been ongoing since the release of the South African Reserve Bank report on improprieties in the bank.
"We will closely monitor and developments and believe that the process underway way will be conducted in a free and fair manner so that justice prevails and that the legal principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' is followed both in letter and in spirit."
