Tshifhiwa Matodzi
Tshifhiwa Matodzi is the former chairman of VBS Mutual Bank and the primary architect of its systematic looting — identified by Advocate Terry Motau’s “The Great Bank Heist” report (October 2018) as the “directing brain” behind the criminal enterprise that extracted R1.894 billion from the bank between 2015 and 2018. Matodzi engineered his takeover of VBS through Dyambeu Investments, structured around the Venda royal family and connected businessmen, and ran VBS and its holding company Vele Investments as a “single criminal enterprise.” He personally extracted R326 million — the largest individual share of the looting.
On 10 July 2024, Matodzi pleaded guilty at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to 33 counts of corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and a pattern of racketeering activities under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The court imposed a combined sentence of 495 years imprisonment, with sentences for counts 2 to 33 running concurrently with count 1 — an effective 15-year term. The sentence followed a Section 105A plea agreement with the NPA that required Matodzi’s full cooperation with the prosecution. The Hawks stated Matodzi had pleaded guilty upon “realisation that the investigation team within the Serious Corruption Investigation unit had done due diligence.” The day after he began serving his sentence, his 253-page affidavit (filed as part of the plea deal) was leaked on social media, detonating explosive claims against politicians, the EFF, and ANC Limpopo leadership.
Matodzi’s affidavit described the looting operation in detail. On the VBS-EFF connection: he described an early-2017 meeting at “the EFF’s penthouse in Sandton” with Julius Malema, Floyd Shivambu, and Marshall Dlamini, at which he proposed R5 million immediately plus R1 million per month via Brian Shivambu’s Sgameka Projects in exchange for the EFF ceasing public attacks on VBS and opening a VBS account. On the municipal deposit scheme: he described how Danny Msiza (ANC Limpopo treasurer) used political influence to deploy mayors and coerce municipalities into depositing R3.4bn with VBS in violation of the MFMA, with Kabelo Matsepe serving as intermediary. As of February 2025, Matodzi had appeared as a state witness in open court for the first time — testifying in the trial of former Thulamela mayor Avhashoni Stephen Tshifhango and implicating Msiza directly.
Connections
- VBS Mutual Bank — chairman; “directing brain”; R326m extracted; 15-year sentence July 2024
- Vele Investments — holding company; vehicle for fictitious deposits and internal looting
- Julius Malema — Sandton penthouse meeting (early 2017); agreed EFF donation scheme
- Floyd Shivambu — present at Sandton meeting; EFF donation conduit
- Brian Shivambu — agreed conduit via Sgameka Projects for EFF payments
- Danny Msiza — ANC Limpopo; implicated in municipal deployment scheme; Matodzi testified against him (February 2025)
- Kabelo Matsepe — ANCYL Limpopo; middleman between municipalities and Msiza; R35m extracted
- National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) — Section 105A plea deal (July 2024); now cooperating as state witness