{
  "id": 10971842,
  "title": "Former Thulamela mayor denies knowledge of VBS investment",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/former-thulamela-mayor-denies-knowledge-of-vbs-investment",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T15:21:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SABC News",
    "slug": "sabc-news",
    "url": "https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/former-thulamela-mayor-denies-knowledge-of-vbs-investment/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Former Thulamela Municipality mayor Avhashoni Tshifhango has denied having knowledge of a R30 million investment in VBS Mutual Bank, which was facilitated by the municipality in 2016. Tshifhango testified that he believed the financial investments were overseen by former municipal manager Hlengani Maluleke. Upon becoming aware of the investment in 2018, Tshifhango instructed Maluleke to compile a report detailing all the events surrounding the transaction. Tshifhango expressed his lack of awareness about the situation, stating that he requested the report to understand what had transpired.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}