A shocking new report has linked EFF leader Julius Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu to the alleged theft of R4m from VBS Bank.

According to Daily Maverick, money stolen from VBS Mutual Bank funded the EFF’s fourth birthday bash held at a popular party venue in Umlazi, Durban, in July 2017.

It is said that this forms part of a portion of the illegal R16.1m Brian Shivambu’s company Sgameka Projects received from VBS that was directed towards to the EFF.

In a strategy designed to hide the origin and ultimate beneficiaries of the funds, VBS money flowed through companies over which Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu have ultimate control.

The bank collapsed in October 2018, after nearly R3 billion of its funds were stolen by “corrupt” beneficiaries linked to the EFF.

The extensive research – carried out by journalist Pauli van Wyk for the Daily Maverick – has revealed that the party exhausted more than R4 million of the VBS to pay for party venues, t-shirts and office rentals in Johannesburg.

According to the report, all in all, the EFF benefited from at least R4.13-million through myriad channels. Of this total amount, Scorpio traced about R1.5-million in VBS loot which was paid directly into two EFF bank accounts. Another R454,000 was deposited directly into the bank account of popular party venue Eyadini Lounge in Umlazi (KwaZulu-Natal), paying for the EFF’s fourth birthday party in July 2017.

In an interview with Eusebius Mckaiser on 702 Talk Radio, Malema denied that any VBS money flowed through the EFF. “No VBS-money has flowed into our coffers”, EFF president Julius Malema pledged on 18 April 2019.