Simelane must answer to Parliament over VBS-linked loan – Bosa

Simelane

Cape Town – Embattled justice minister Thembi Simelane should be instructed to make a statement before Parliament about a loan she received that has been linked to the now-defunct VBS Bank, according to Build One South Africa (Bosa).

Bosa is the latest political party to pile on the pressure on Simelane after ActionSA filed a criminal case against Simelane in connection with the R575 000 loan, reports radio station JacarandaFM.

Bosa spokesperson Roger Solomons said there is a need for full disclosure and accountability, as there could have been violations of key legislation and parliamentary ethics. This follows a report by Daily Maverick and News24 that Simelane may have misled Parliament’s justice committee in September over the circumstances in which she secured the loan through Gundo Wealth Solutions in 2016 when she was still mayor of Polokwane.

Gundo, which is implicated in the VBS saga for allegedly soliciting deposits from municipalities, was providing brokerage services to Polokwane municipality at the time it loaned Simelane R575 000 to open a coffee shop in Sandton.

Polokwane municipality invested R349 million in VBS between September 2016 and May 2017, but withdrew the money later in 2017, earning R12.7 million in interest. It is one of a few municipalities touched by the VBS scandal to recoup its money from the bank before it went belly-up in March 2018.

Simelane insists there was no conflict of interest between Gundo being a municipality service provider while at the same time supplying her with a loan.

She told Parliament that she had paid back the loan in three instalments over four months to January 2021 and it totalled R849 000. While she did not present documents in Parliament to back up her assertions, she said she had supplied proof in a report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Simelane also appeared before the ANC’s integrity commission in late September, according to TimesLive.

EWN reports that Bosa leader Mmusi Maimane suggested that Simelane’s refusal to make her loan agreement with Gundo public to support her public statements  could indicate she is misleading Parliament.

Maimane has reportedly written to the National Assembly Speaker asking her to refer the matter to Parliament’s rules committee to invoke a House rule which makes provision for an MP to explain matters of a personal nature.

Bosa’s Solomon said: “As both a minister and a member of Parliament, Simelane is accountable first to Parliament and not to her party’s internal processes and so-called integrity commissions.”

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