Showmax has released the trailer for The People vs. VBS, a true-crime documentary series examining what has been described as South Africa’s biggest bank heist, allegedly orchestrated by the bank’s own executives.
The four-part series, screening over two Wednesdays from 25 March 2026, revisits a scandal that remains unresolved eight years after the bank’s collapse, with court proceedings still ongoing.
According to VBS liquidators, approximately 22 000 depositors lost their life savings when the bank collapsed in 2018, many from rural and low-income communities.
“We had 22 000 depositors, effectively, and these are individuals who deposited their life savings and monies into the bank, only for this to be siphoned by a few executives,” says VBS liquidator Anoosh Rooplal.
VBS liquidator Walter Stander recounts the case of a woman (86) who lost R650 000 she had saved over 30 years as a nest egg for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s education.
News24 investigative journalist Kyle Cowan recalls his initial disbelief at the scale of the theft. “We were, like, ‘But that’s impossible. No one can steal R1 billion and no one notices.’” The actual amount allegedly stolen was nearly double that figure.
The documentary traces how the Venda Building Society, formed in 1982 as a pioneering black-owned bank providing microloans and accounts for burial societies and stokvels, became entangled with multinational auditors, political parties, a royal household and a former president.
“This was the most powerful people in South Africa coming together to rob a bank,” says investigative journalist Qaanitah Hunter.
Many South Africans first became aware of VBS in 2016 when the bank loaned then-president Jacob Zuma over R7 million to repay money for non-security-related upgrades to his Nkandla homestead. The loan exceeded the bank’s annual net profit at the time.
After a change in leadership, the bank allegedly began operating like a pyramid scheme, according to the documentary.
“A lot of the money was squandered,” says Stander, pointing to Ferraris and other extravagances, as well as bribes. The mutual bank shifted its focus from microloans to municipalities and eventually state-owned enterprises.
When VBS started missing payments and was placed under curatorship in March 2018, widespread panic ensued.
“People would queue and sleep outside the bank until they announced there was no more money in the bank,” recalls Limpopo resident Agnes Thivonali Ngobeli.
ALSO READ: Hawks arrest 27 across four provinces in R100m education corruption scheme
The Showmax Original is directed by Richard Finn Gregory and produced by Elle Oosthuizen and Wim Steyn. Gregory and Oosthuizen were named the Sanlam Group Financial Journalists of the Year in 2022 for Steinheist and were behind the 2025 International Emmy nominee School Ties.
The documentary features interviews with VBS co-founder Madambi Muvhulawa, South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, former Public Investment Corporation CEO Dan Matjila, Economic Freedom Fighters founder Julius Malema, and investigative journalists including Dewald van Rensburg, who wrote VBS: A Dream Defrauded, and Pauli van Wyk, who co-wrote Malema: Money. Power. Patronage.
Allegations explored in the series include R5 million in cash leaving VBS in a bag by helicopter, a mayor requesting “Christmas presents”, and the assassinations of whistle-blowers.
Local documentary filmmaker Dowelani Edward Nenzhelele, whose own family lost hundreds of thousands of rands, features in the series.
After premiering on Showmax, The People vs. VBS will screen on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) at 22:00 on Thursdays from 2 April.
You must be logged in to post a comment.