No coincidence’ closing Jacob Zuma’s bank accounts, says MK Party

The Jacob Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has raised questions over the timing of the closure of the former president’s bank accounts by FNB, saying Zuma will be directly affected as his presidential pension is paid into one of the affected accounts.

On December 16, Zuma announced that he would no longer campaign or vote for the ANC and instead would support the newly formed party.

He is number one on the list of candidates for the party.

It was reported on Sunday that the bank was closing his accounts including one into which the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank allegedly deposited a loan of R7.8 million to Zuma.

FNB said it was complying with an order of the High Court in KwaZulu-Natal.

“FNB is complying with a specific order by the High Court (KZN division).

However, given client confidentiality, FNB cannot comment further on any client’s specific bank accounts and treats all customers objectively and consistently,” FNB said in a statement.

While it may be reportedly related to the VBS matter, this could not be confirmed on Monday.

MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela claimed the “timing of the order was designed to humiliate Zuma”.

“The former president has repaid R3million of the loan (believed to be the VBS loan) and has complied with the terms of the repayment agreement, but this court order comes in the wake of him being a key member of the MK Party and they have gone ahead and closed his bank account.”

Ndhlela said Zuma’s lawyers were informed of the court order at the end of February.

He alleged that the “instruction came directly from the ANC to deal with and humiliate Zuma”.

The ANC on Monday did not respond to a request for comment. Zuma was suspended by the National Executive Committee of the ANC earlier this year after he aligned with the MK Party.

The ANC had said that Zuma’s disciplinary process would take place after the elections.

During his December 16 announcement, Zuma said the ANC “I know was never focused more on expelling members without implementing proper processes to establish if such action was appropriate”.

“I have decided that I cannot and will not campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa in 2024. My conscience will not allow me to lie to the people of South Africa,” Zuma had said.

Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the timing of the closure of Zuma’s bank accounts “is quite serious and cannot be ignored”.

“For the MK Party it means that the bank has become a political player, an instrument that the government has at its disposal and this is a threat to democracy,” Seepe said.

In 2022, the Pietermaritzburg High Court granted VBS Mutual Bank’s curator a default order forcing Zuma to repay the loan spent on upgrades to his home in Nkandla. The original loan amount was R6.5million but with interest the outstanding amount had grown to R7.8 million.

The order related to former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s 2014 report which found that when security improvements were made at Zuma’s home‚ a number of structures were built at state expense that were not related to security.

These included a cattle enclosure, chicken run and visitor centre, theatre and the swimming pool.

In September 2016, Zuma signed a loan agreement with VBS Mutual Bank to cover the Constitutional Court ordered repayments for upgrades to his home.

Zuma denied he had acted dishonestly over the upgrade.

By 2018 Zuma had defaulted, and the bank’s liquidators went to court.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court issued a default order, stating: “Summary judgment is granted against the first respondent and the first respondent is ordered to pay the applicant the sum of R6 500 000 (six million five hundred thousand) together with interest on the aforesaid amount at the rate of 10.25% per annum from 31 August 2019 to the date of final payment, both days inclusive,” the order read.

The Mercury