When 'justice' is ANC tool

Social media this week has been full of posts by EFF and uMkhonto weSizwe party supporters declaring "we don't trust the justice system!" What has brought the issue of politicised justice to the fore is the kerfuffle following last Friday's leaking of an explosive affidavit by former Venda Building Society (VBS) chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi.

- Jaundiced Eye

On the basis of it, he reached a plea deal with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that has earned him a 15-year jail sentence on 33 charges of corruption, theft, money laundering and racketeering.

His affidavit implicates the EFF's top leadership - Julius Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu as well as Floyd's brother Brian Shivambu. About R16.2 million in VBS funds stolen from the stokvels and burials societies of the rural poor - were diverted to them, ostensibly as political donations to the party.

Daily Maverick reports that the VBS funds were used by Malema and Shivambu to purchase a restaurant in Soweto, a house for Shivambu's parents and to upgrade Malema's Sandton home.

Maverick's investigations showed how the life savings of the poor and vulnerable VBS depositors, as well as hard-scrabble municipalities, were transformed into school-related expenses for Malema's son and used to clothe the EFF leaders in Gucci and Louis Vuitton.