Civil rights organisation AfriForum said should the State fail to prosecute Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu, AfriForum will consider private prosecution as an alternative.

The organisation said on Friday it had instructed its legal team to formulate charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering against Malema and Shivambu, adding that these charges will soon be lodged with the police.

This follows former VBS Mutual Bank board chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi’s revelation that the EFF received monthly donations and a so-called business loan of millions of rands from VBS since 2017 through a front company, Sgameka Projects.

He alleged that R5-million was originally paid, followed by monthly donations of R1-million and a R4-million loan.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel stated that Matodzi’s statement indicates that this money was paid to the EFF as a bribe but that especially Malema and Shivambu, in their personal capacity, benefitted from these transactions.

Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges, of among others, corruption, theft and money laundering. He was given a 15-year sentence for each of the charges.

Kriel argued that Matodzi’s statement provides sufficient grounds for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to obtain a preservation order on Malema and Shivambu’s assets.

AfriForum said it had requested Gerrie Nel and his team at AfriForum’s Private Prosecutions Unit to monitor the case and to put pressure on the prosecution process should it appear that the NPA is dragging its feet.

“The State’s failure to prosecute Malema for his part in the [past] On Point Engineering corruption case has apparently given him the impression that he is untouchable and that he can simply continue with his involvement in alleged corrupt activities,” Kriel said.