DA, GOOD Party call for action against Minister Simelane over dodgy VBS loan

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Cape Town — The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the GOOD Party have expressed concern over the revelation that Justice Minister, Thembi Simelane, was involved in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.

Reports indicate that Simelane took a loan of R575,600 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company owned by Raliom Razwinane. In 2016, between September and October, Gundo Wealth Solutions received R1.66 million in kickbacks from VBS Bank.

At the same time, Simelane was the mayor of Polokwane and during that time, had negotiated unlawful investments of R349 million into VBS Mutual Bank, a Daily Maverick investigation reported.

With the loan, Simelane purchased two coffee shops and used the kickbacks in exchange for large investments by the Polokwane Municipality in VBS, the report said.

Razwinane faces 13 charges of contravening the anti-corruption legislation in South Africa, and two charges have some implications with Simelane. However, she is only involved until she takes ownership of the coffee shop.

Simelane claimed that the R575 600 she received from Gundo was a “commercial” loan, but it is believed to be part of the corrupt kickbacks. In probing Simelane further for answers, she revealed Gundo as her service provider but the company was not recognised as a credit provider and could not provide loans to the public.

In a statement, the DA’s Justice spokesperson, Glynnis Breytenbach, has requested that Minister Simelane appear before the portfolio to answer to the allegations and said the Minister needs to account for what measures she wants to put in place to manage the conflict of interest between herself and role of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

She said the private sector and journalists have done work to uncover the VBS scandal, which has affected many poor and marginalised communities.

“These allegations raise serious questions about the Minister’s integrity and her ability to fulfil the critical role of upholding justice in South Africa. We demand that the NPA continue to exercise its mandate without fear, favour or prejudice, despite the allegations that have surfaced against the person who oversees the body,” Breytenbach said.

The GOOD Party also released a statement backing the DA’s claims that Simelane be investigated and said it was “untenable” for Simelane to be responsible for protecting the rule of law.

Herron said President Cyril Ramaphosa has “no choice but to act in the best of the country and in the interests of an untainted criminal justice process relating to all who are implicated in the VBS crimes and that Simelane would not be able to stay as Minister of the justice system that would investigate her.

According to The Citizen, ActionSA has filed a complaint against Simelane in connection to the alleged loan she took from VBS, and the party’s Athol Trollip said it would write a complaint to Ramaohosa.

“Consequently, it is a matter of grave concern that Minister Simelane, who now oversees the Department of Justice and who wields significant influence over the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), is the very person responsible for the institution tasked with prosecuting corruption, potentially including this very matter,” he said.

Trollip said if the Public Protector concluded there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, it would ask Ramaphosa to remove Simelane as justice minister.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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