AS a former Mayor of Polokwane, Thembi Simelane, then Nkadimeng, allegedly took a loan from an accused VBS investment broker in 2016 to buy a coffee shop in Sandton.
Fast track to 2024, as now minister of Justice, Simelane is under fire for a R500 000 loan she solicited from a company that brokered unlawful investments of R349 million into VBS Mutual Bank by the Polokwane Municipality.
GNU and other parties are having a filled-day and filed an urgent complaint with the Public Protector against the minister.
Simelane allegedly used the “commercial loan” of R575,600 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, owned by Ralliom Razwinane, to purchase a coffee shop in Sandton.
Razwinane and Gundo also brokered investments on behalf of VBS Mutual Bank and the Polokwane Municipality invested R349 million in the bank, according to Daily Maverick.
When VBS imploded in March 2018, forensic investigations found it had rewarded Razwinane with kickbacks totalling R24.2 million for being a commissioning agent for various municipalities and state entities.
The investigators found these to be corrupt transactions and contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Razwinane is currently on trial for fraud, corruption and money laundering for his role as a commission agent connecting municipalities with VBS.
In her response, Simelane insists everything was “above board”, according to the report.
According to ActionSA’s Athol Trollip, “The question is whether South Africa’s justice minister is possibly the recipient and beneficiary of illicit VBS cash, as the available information suggests?
“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,” Trollip said.
The party has also written to President Cyril Ramaphosa about the complaint against Simelane.
As minister of justice, she oversees the investigation and prosecution of those involved in the collapse of VBS.
Simelane is also a member of the justice and crime prevention cluster in Cabinet, which includes the police and the Hawks, who are also investigating the VBS matter.
If all the allegations stand to be true, Simelane would have tainted the image of this very important department in the country.
Image (Tainted? Min of Justice Thembi Simelane is alleged to have benefited from ill-gotten gains from the VBS scandal).
