Over 5 years after collapse, VBS Mutual Bank stakeholders want it revived

JOHANNESBURG - More than five years after its collapse, VBS Mutual Bank stakeholders said they want the defunct bank to be resuscitated.

Over R2 billion was syphoned from the bank, devastating municipalities, pensioners and other investors who lost their savings.

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A damning report identified more than 50 people who were unduly paid loans and kickbacks between 2015 and 2018.

VBS Mutual Bank was placed under liquidation in 2018, with its banking licence suspended.

The bank’s liquidators are still in the process of collecting loans improperly paid out.

The bank’s remaining assets are still being sold to claw back millions owed to depositors.

While that continues in the background, calls to revive the bank have resurfaced.

The chairperson of the VBS Stakeholders’ Forum, Madambi Muvhulwa, said there's still a future for the bank.

“Our wish is that at the end of the day, if government wants a State bank, this is the bank that they can build on which is already in existence.”

The South African Reserve Bank and the Prudential Authority, responsible for banking licences, have previously reiterated that the VBS Mutual Bank licence cannot be bought or transferred.