Danny Msiza
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Danny Msiza is a South African politician and businessman who served as
Provincial Treasurer In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior portfolio in the Executive Council (or cabinet) of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provincia ...
of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
(ANC) in
Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...
between 2015 and 2022. Msiza, a long-standing ANC member and prominent community leader, is actively campaigning for the party for the upcoming 2024 general elections. In addition to his role in the ANC, he is a successful entrepreneur with a diverse range of business interests, leading to extensive connections in the corporate world. Some of his wealth comes from his shares in Nkulunge, a company that holds BEE shares in Cell C, valued at R7.5 million. Additionally, he has a stake in Marula Platinum, a part of the Implats group, worth R12.8 million. The Marula Platinum mine is located in Limpopo.


Early life

Msiza was the inaugural president of the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
's anti-apartheid Motetema Youth Congress in the 1980s. According to the ANC, he was recruited into the underground of
Umkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...
in 1984, and he subsequently spent time in exile outside the country. He returned to South Africa in 1992, after the ANC had been unbanned, and subsequently was active in party structures in
Sekhukhune Sekhukhune I (Matsebe; circa 1814 – 13 August 1882) was the paramount King of the Marota, more commonly known as the Bapedi (Pedi people), from 21 September 1861 until his assassination on 13 August 1882 by his rival and half-brother, Mampuru ...
in present-day
Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...
. After the end of apartheid, he became a businessman and had financial interests in sectors including
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
, telecommunications, and construction.


ANC Provincial Treasurer: 2015–2021


Election

In September 2015, Msiza was elected as Provincial Treasurer of the ANC's Limpopo branch. He was elected at a special provincial general council held to fill the position after the former incumbent, Thembi Nwedamutswu, died. At the party's next provincial elective conference in June 2018, he was re-elected to a full four-year term in the position, beating Seaparo Sekoati with 848 votes to Sekoati's 688.


VBS Mutual Bank scandal

In October 2018, the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condi ...
published the report of a forensic investigation it had commissioned into alleged
fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
and
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
at
VBS Mutual Bank VBS Mutual Bank was a South African mutual bank. In 2018 it was declared insolvent and bankrupt and placed under curatorship, with South African citizens and taxpayers defrauded out of roughly R2 billion. It was formed as Venda Building S ...
, and Msiza was heavily implicated. According to the report, entitled ''The Great Bank Heist'', Msiza was the "kingpin" in a commissions scam at VBS, under which various agents had received sizeable commissions in exchange for encouraging municipalities and other public sector entities to invest deposits at the bank, often in contravention of public finance management laws. Msiza's role was allegedly to use his political influence as ANC Provincial Treasurer to encourage municipal officials to approve these deposits. In addition, the
National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African Government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the South African Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which establi ...
later alleged that Msiza had played a central role in directing agents to channel their commissions to various third parties, and that he had himself received
kickbacks A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration (money, goods, or services handed over) is negotiated ahead of time. The kickback ...
. Msiza strongly denied the allegations, calling them "scandalous" and "baseless".


Suspension

After ''The Great Bank Heist'' was published, initiating a major public controversy, the ANC's internal Integrity Commission recommended that Msiza and
Florence Radzilani Fulufhelo Florence Radzilani (; born 21 April 1971) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Social Development in Limpopo Province. She has represented the African National Congress (A ...
, who was also implicated, should " step aside" from their party positions until their names had been cleared. On 11 December 2018, Msiza formally stepped aside, saying that he did not admit guilt but nonetheless accepted the Integrity Commission's decision. "Stepping aside" amounted effectively to voluntarily accepting a suspension from office. In July 2020, the ANC's National Executive Committee recommended that Msiza and Radzilani should be reinstated in their party positions unless and until they faced criminal charges in connection with the VBS saga. According to
News24 News 24 may refer to: * News 24 (Albania), a 24-hour news television channel in Albania *News24 (website), a South Africa-based news website * Rai News24, a 24-hour news television channel in Italy *BBC News 24, now known as BBC News, a UK 24-hour n ...
, the proposal to reinstate them emanated from Stan Mathabatha, then the
Premier of Limpopo The premier of Limpopo is the head of government of Limpopo province of South Africa. The current premier of Limpopo is Phophi Ramathuba, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 14 June 2024, following the 2024 national a ...
and the Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in the province. On 8 September 2020, the Provincial Executive Committee of the Limpopo ANC announced that Msiza had officially returned to office as ANC Provincial Treasurer.


Criminal charges

On 11 August 2020, portions of ''The Great Bank Heist'' which made findings against Msiza were set aside by the
Gauteng High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...
on procedural grounds: the court found that the investigators had not given Msiza sufficient opportunity to respond to the allegations against him, in contradiction to the requirements of
administrative justice Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), adjudica ...
. However, in March 2021, Msiza was arrested by the
Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...
and formally indicted. He and his 13 co-accused faced charges of
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
, theft, fraud and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
in the VBS saga. His first court appearance was on 12 March at Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court. His trial was due to begin in 2022.


Step-aside rule

Msiza's indictment coincided with divisions in the ANC about the implementation of the party's step-aside policy, and, unlike in 2018, Msiza resisted calls to step aside. The ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...
'' reported that Msiza effectively controlled the Limpopo ANC even after his arrest. In April 2021, the provincial party contracted external legal counsel, which advised the Provincial Executive Committee that it might be unlawful to compel Msiza to step aside. However, in August 2021, the ANC National Executive Committee unambiguously ordered the provincial party to implement the step-aside rule against Msiza, which entailed suspending him if he did not step aside voluntarily. Msiza agreed to step aside later the same week. Although he was never reinstated as Provincial Treasurer, Msiza was expected to seek re-election to high party office when his term ended in June 2022: he emerged as a likely challenger to incumbent Provincial Secretary Soviet Lekganyane. However, in May 2022, the Provincial Executive Committee announced that the step-aside rule barred Msiza from contesting in party elections until his name was cleared. When the party's provincial elective congress was held in June 2022, Msiza was nonetheless nominated for the position; ANC Treasurer-General
Paul Mashatile Paulus Shipokosa Mashatile (born 21 October 1961) is a South African politician who is the 9th Deputy President of South Africa. He became Deputy President of the governing African National Congress (ANC) in December 2022. Before his election ...
personally took to the podium to explain to delegates why Msiza was not eligible to run. The leadership corps elected at the conference was viewed as strongly allied to Msiza – as was Reuben Madadzhe, who ultimately won election to the secretariat – and, though excluded from party office, Msiza remained influential in ANC politics. In the aftermath of the June party conference, he publicly argued for the step-aside rule to be amended.


Personal life

Msiza is married to Mmabogoshi Bellah Msiza.


References


External links

*
The Great Bank Heist
' at South African Reserve Bank
"The many lives of Danny Msiza: Now he’s aiming even higher"
at News24 African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Msiza_Danny Living people Year of birth missing (living people)