NATIONAL Treasury and the South African Bank have responded to the allegations made by businessman and former Gauteng premier, Tokyo Sexwale.
In a joint statement, they said the allegations made by Sexwale on the alleged billions stolen after being deposited to the South African Reserve Bank for higher education debt relief are unfounded and are a common scam.
They claim that over the years the National Treasury and the SARB have received many such requests for, or promises, of billions and now trillions of rands or dollars, and from experience regard these as simply scams.
They said: “Any claim that such funds are meant for deserving causes such as Covid-19 relief, social grants or grants for free education are simply empty promises to secure the interest of the potential victim.”
They said the National Treasury and the SARB have previously received correspondence from Sexwale and many others that allege that billions of rands have been stolen from a fund that has been referred to as the White Spiritual Boy Trust which was set up by a foreign donor.
“It is further alleged that there are trillions of dollars in the said fund and that, inter alia, a certain Mr Goodwin Erin Webb was its mandated representative in South Africa.
“On investigation, the SARB can confirm that it had no record of the existence of the said fund and it had advised Sexwale in writing that, given the SARB’s experience and knowledge of this and other similar matters, it could only conclude that the alleged fund was a scam,” they stated.
The statement further said it should be noted that Sexwale is not the first prominent person acting on behalf of a Mr Webb or an unknown donor, for such funds, and such requests can be traced to many years before 2016.
They said the SARB can confirm that all cross-border transactions are reported to them by commercial banks who are appointed as authorised dealers in foreign exchange transactions.
“The SARB has concluded that there is no evidence to support the existence of such funds if Mr Sexwale believes otherwise, the onus is on him and his unknown sponsor to provide independent written proof of the existence and or transfer of such funds, as well as certified copies of actual identification and citizenship of such ‘donors’, in line with the normal FICA- type anti-money laundering requirements.
“Allegations of theft of non-existent funds have no validity,” they concluded.
