Former king loses bid not to repay VBS

• Ramabulana must pay back nearly R6m related to luxury-car finance

Former Vhavenda king Toni Mphephu Ramabulana will have to repay the defunct VBS Mutual Bank nearly R6m after he lost a bid to appeal against a high court ruling in November. Ramabulana was first drawn into the VBS Mutual Bank saga in 2018 when advocate Terry Motau said that he was a beneficiary in the failure of VBS.

Former Vhavenda king Toni Mphephu Ramabulana will have to repay the defunct VBS Mutual Bank nearly R6m after he lost a bid to appeal against a South Gauteng High Court ruling in November.

Ramabulana was first drawn into the VBS Mutual Bank saga in 2018 when advocate Terry Motau said in a damning report that he was a beneficiary in the failure of VBS Mutual Bank.

Judge Motsamai Makume on Tuesday denied Ramabulana leave to appeal against his earlier decision regarding three vehicle sale agreements he had with VBS Mutual Bank and in which he was ordered to repay R5.5m arising from the agreements.

“I do not deem it necessary to deal with each and every ground of appeal save to say that none of them would stand any possibility of succeeding in the Appeal Court,” said the judge.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

Ramabulana wanted to contest the November 2022 decision, in which he was ordered to pay VBS Mutual Bank money arising from three finance agreements for luxury cars concluded between 2015 and 2018.

The agreements relate to a Range Rover 5.0 V8 for which Ramabulana owes VBS Mutual Bank R1.4m, a BMW 760i sedan for which he owes R2m and a Mercedes-Benz V250d with a price tag of R2m.

In his application for finance in 2015 Ramabulana told VBS Mutual Bank that his monthly income was R150,000. In January 2018, he declared to VBS Mutual Bank that his monthly income had risen to R300,000.

One of his main arguments at trial and in his application for leave to appeal is that in granting him credit the bank failed to take reasonable steps to assess his general understanding and appreciation of the risks and costs of the proposed credit.

He said the three credit agreements were concluded recklessly and in contravention of the National Credit Act.

The judge rejected this argument, saying: “I fail to understand what else the bank should have done to satisfy itself that indeed the applicant will afford repayments. In this application counsel was once more asked to explain what exactly the bank did not do. I did not get a clear answer.”

Motau’s report —“VBS Mutual Bank — The Great Bank Heist”, released in October 2018 — blew the lid off the looting that characterised the bank, from which nearly R2bn was siphoned off in less than five years. Several people are facing charges over the looting, including former VBS Mutual Bank executives Tshifhiwa Matodzi, Andile Ramavhunga, Phophi Mukhodobwane and Philip Truter, who has admitted guilt and has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.

Ramabulana was removed as king by a judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal that set aside former president Jacob Zuma’s decision to install Ramabulana as the acting king of VhaVenda. This decision was later confirmed by the Constitutional Court.