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 Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) ruling in November.

A Business Day report says 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 has now 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 Makume.

One of Ramabulana’s 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.’

Full Business Day report