VBS kingpin was a ‘star learner’ at school

The past week's headlines were dominated by one story – the sentencing of one of the kingpins behind the looting of VBS Bank, Tshifhiwa Matodzi. The former flamboyant banking boss pleaded guilty to 33 charges of theft and fraud and was sentenced to serve an effective 15 years in prison.

His leaked affidavit, in which several people are implicated, has sent shockwaves through the country, especially among the politicians and prominent people who allegedly benefited from the heist.

When the 47-year-old Matodzi appeared in the Pretoria High Court last Wednesday, he was almost literally a shadow of the man he was in 2017 and 2018, when most of the looting occurred. He told the court that he was staying with his ex-wife, who had shown him pity and allowed him to stay there, so that he could see his two children, aged 10 and 12.

Matodzi asked the court to show him mercy, stressing that he was brought up in a good family that “instilled in me a culture of diligence and integrity. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, I walked away from the values and the teachings my family raised me with. The results of my bad decisions have inevitably impacted negatively not only on my personal life but, even worse, on the lives of the innocent depositors at VBS,” he said.

But not much is known locally about the man who grew up in Thohoyandou Block F, where he testified that his parents had a general store, not far from the VBS branch.

Many of the local residents that Limpopo Mirror spoke to were not aware that Matodzi grew up in their neighbourhood. “I stay here in Thohoyandou Block F, but I cannot even show you where the family’s house is,” said one resident, who did not want her name mentioned. She felt that he had made little impact on the local community because he had not invested in local business or even employ people. “He deserves to be jailed,” she said.

Another resident we spoke to, who also did not want his name mentioned, remembered the bright young man very well. “We grew up together and played together,” he said. “We went to school together at Tshiluvhi Primary School and, to tell you the truth, he was a star learner. The boy was down to earth, and we never thought he could be capable of doing such evil. We parted ways when he went to Thohoyandou Secondary School and later to study in Gauteng,” he said.

For the next decade or so, Matodzi just visited his home in Thohoyandou on occasion. “We would only see big cars when he was back, but one would ever see him. We only saw the changes at the family house, which was rebuilt and renovated. It is now a big and beautiful mansion that shows the family has plenty of money,” he said. They all assumed that his mother, Stephina Matodzi, who was a prominent traditional healer, was making lots of money.

The resident recalls one incident when Matodzi arrived back home in a helicopter. “It landed at the Thohoyandou Place of Safety, which is adjacent to his home. A few months later, we heard of his involvement in the collapse of the bank. This came as a shock to us,” he said.

He described Matodzi as a very humble person, down to earth and very intelligent. “What is bothering us is that he did not empower local people with the millions, but spent them on nice times and girlfriends. With the amount of money he had, he could have employed many people and eased poverty in his township,” he said.

But the many local people who lost their life savings when the bank collapsed have no good words for Matodzi and welcomed his jail sentence. “What we need is that their properties be sold and that we get our savings back,” said Ms Mashudu Mudau, one of the victims who invested thousands at the bank.

When addressing the court last Wednesday, Matodzi tried to paint a picture of a man who had fallen from grace but who was extremely ashamed of his actions. “Growing up in the rural town of Thohoyandou … and being the third-born child in a family of seven children, I always aspired to make a meaningful impact in my society.”

The general agreement is that his wish to make an impact had materialised, but unfortunately not in a positive way. As a parting gift, he made lots of information available that may help convict many more of the criminals involved in the bank’s looting.

Date:19 July 2024

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019. He currently writes on a freelance basis, covering human rights issues, court news and entertainment.

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