Johannesburg - There is currently no basis or evidence to take action against EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, says EFF leader Julius Malema.
Malema has hit out at calls from the public for the party to take action against his deputy over claims that he was paid R10 million from funds looted from the Venda Building Society (VBS).
The party held a wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday in Joburg.
Shivambu is accused of receiving R10 million from his younger brother Brian, who is accused of illegally pocketing R16 million from VBS.
The details of payments from VBS to Brian were detailed in the VBS heist report which was released last week. The report detailed that 53 people were illegally paid various amounts totalling R1.89 billion from VBS over a number of years.
The Shivambu brothers have denied receiving funds from the bank.
Malema said the party has seen financial statements from Shivambu which date back to 2014 and there is no proof of money from VBS.
“We have taken the deputy president into our confidence because we saw his financial statements and went through them. We asked for statements from as far back as 2014 and there are back and forth transactions between him and his family, like with any family,” said Malema.
“We keep getting asked why we do not act against the deputy president, on what basis? We need to receive evidence that shows that the deputy president was involved in any corrupt activities. We cannot just take him to task based on "apparently". There needs to be prima facie evidence and then we can act,” said Malema.
Shivambu said it was “madness” that he received R10 million from VBS as the funds could have been flagged by his bank.
I have exposed all the information I have to the leadership, there has never been any R10 million deposited into my account. Even if you aren't acting as a journalist, then as a patriotic citizen, go to the police station and give them the evidence,” said Shivambu.
Malema said Brian had previously worked as an administrator for the EFF, but he no longer works there.