- ANC Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile says Tokyo Sexwale must bring proof of the funds being paid to the Reserve Bank.
- He says if there is such a proof, then he could ask National Treasury what happened to these.
- National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank said these funds never existed and Sexwale has been scammed.
ANC Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile said businessman and former politician Tokyo Sexwale should try to establish whether the trillions of dollars he said were transferred to the South African Reserve Bank were actually paid in, because it seems that this money doesn’t exist.
Mashatile told News24 that he had facilitated a meeting between Sexwale and President Cyril Ramaphosa to talk about the fund, and he had also spoken to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni about it.
“Tokyo said, ‘guys, here is an opportunity, I have been appointed by this fund’,” Mashatile said. “Unfortunately there is no such money, that is the unfortunate thing. It’s a scam and he must close the chapter of that book. It’s a scam, there is no such money, forget about it.”
Mashatile said it should be easy enough for someone to go to Singapore and to check what transaction was made and when. “It should be easy to find out if that money was sent or not. I don’t think it’s good to go on bickering about something that doesn’t exist.”
Mashatile said he believed Sexwale was being genuine when he said he was appointed to run the “Heritage Trust Fund” to help South Africa.
He said:
He believes there are such funds to help the country.
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank on Monday, however, issued a statement to say the fund, also known as the White Spiritual Boy Trust Fund, was a well-known worldwide scam and the funds never existed.
“I think the onus is on comrade Tokyo to talk to the people who promised the funds to check whether it’s been paid or not,” he said. “All he has to do is to check where the funds originated from and say ‘guys, did you send the money, do you have the proof?’. And then he can bring the proof to the South African authorities and say ‘the funds have been sent, where are they?’.”
READ | Heritage Trust Fund: ‘I’m left high and dry’ – Tokyo Sexwale
Sexwale on Thursday had a two-and-a-half hour long press conference at the Riboville Boutique Hotel at the Waterfall Equestrian Estate in an attempt to explain how the funds work.
He claimed he had not been scammed, and refused to say how much of the funds he had been promised.