The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it will refer the South African Police Service’s “inaction” on the VBS Mutual Bank saga to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police, for oversight.

Deputy Chief Whip of the DA Baxolile Nodada stated that six years after his party laid criminal charges against the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF's) deputy president Floyd Shivambu and leader Julius Malema over allegations of corruption and industrial-scale looting of the now defunct VBS Bank, the Saps has failed to provide any updates on the status of their investigations.

Nodada said the DA had written to the Police Portfolio Committee chair Ian Cameron, requesting that he summon a Saps representative to appear before the committee, to explain why there had been no apparent progress into the charges that were laid against Malema and Shivambu in 2018 over VBS.

He accused the Saps of dragging its feet on the issue and said doing so allowed the “serious allegations” of corruption against Shivambu and Malema to go untested.

“The police service is supposed to conduct itself without fear or favour but its silence on this issue is sending the wrong message in the fight against corruption and embezzlement,” he said.

The party explained that the witness statement provided by former VBS Bank board chair Tshifhiwa Matodzi, showed that there was prima facie evidence that Shivambu and Malema took part in a “brazen plot” to defraud VBS Bank and its clients for self-enrichment purposes.

Matodzi on Wednesday made revelations implicating Malema and Shivambu in dealings with the now defunct bank and the receipt of millions from its accounts.

The pair are alleged to have gone out of their way to not only defraud VBS Bank but to use the proceeds obtained to fund their lavish lifestyles including procuring properties.

“This brazen theft left in its wake a trail of destruction as senior citizens lost their pensions and bank clients their savings,” said Nodada.

He noted that as public representatives, MPs should conduct themselves with integrity and ethical probity.

“The fact that Shivambu and Malema used their party, the EFF, as leverage for corrupt rent-seeking purposes at VBS has significant bearing on the credibility of Parliament and its standing as a law-making institution,” Nodada explained.

He said his party could not allow the trust deficit between South Africans and Parliament to widen because of those who did not conduct themselves with integrity.

He said in light of the serious allegations raised in the VBS matter, it was imperative that the alleged corruption that took place was rigorously investigated and those responsible held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.