Exclusive: South Africa's biggest financial scandal is coming to TV.
we got the trailer for people vs vbsA showmax Documentary series from IdeaCandy about the strange case of VBS Mutual Bank, which is still in the South African courts almost a decade after the events unfolded.
The four-part series will air on two Wednesdays beginning March 25 as a Showmax original. Richard Finn Gregory is the director and Elle Oosthuizen and Wim Steyn are the producers. Gregory and Oosthuizen were behind 2022 steinhistAnother Showmax doc series about financial corruption in South Africa, and a 2025 International Emmy nominee school tieS.
The series includes interviews with VBS co-founder Madamabi Muvhulawa; Lesatja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank; Dan Matjila, former CEO of Public Investment Corporation; Julius Malema, founder of the Economic Freedom Fighters; and investigative journalists such as Dewald van Rensburg, who wrote a book on the case, VBS: A dream betrayedand Pauli Van Wyk, who co-wrote the book Malema: Money. Power. Protection.
VBS Mutual Bank was declared bankrupt in 2018 following official reports that it was defrauding customers of billions of rands. The fraud was allegedly perpetrated by the bank's own officers, and several officers and bank personnel have been implicated in the investigation.
The document will show how the small mutual bank became entangled with multinational auditors, political parties, a royal house and a former president. Court proceedings are still ongoing eight years after the collapse, which saw many regular people lose their life savings.
Allegations in the documentary include VBS leaving R5 million in cash in a bag by helicopter; A mayor is asking for “Christmas gifts”; and killings of informers.
Many South Africans first became aware of VBS in 2016, when the bank loaned then-President Jacob Zuma more than R7 million to pay back money for non-security-related upgrades at his Nkandla homestead – which was more than the bank's annual net profit at the time.
The black-owned VBS was formed in 1982 and played a significant role in the development of finance in South Africa, and was considered a model that many hoped would be replicated throughout the country. However, after the management change, the bank allegedly began operating like a pyramid scheme. When VBS started losing payments and was placed under curatorship in March 2018, it caused widespread panic.
Director Gregory said, “It's a cautionary tale of what happens when a legitimate desire for progress – to take a bank into the modern age – is hijacked by compromised individuals.” “The money at stake was so huge that people could not resist and ultimately, the victims were the people who needed VBS the most: the villagers of the Vhavenda community.”
After premiering on Showmax, people vs vbs It will be shown on M-Net's DStv channel 101 on Thursdays from 2 April at 10pm local time.