Justice minister Thembi Simelane is consulting her lawyers and is expected to address allegations around her links to VBS Mutual Bank.
That is what Simelane’s aides told Business Day on Tuesday, following a call by civil society organisations and opposition parties for her to clarify corruption allegations or resign.
The VBS Mutual Bank imploded in 2018 and subsequent forensic investigations showed it had given kickbacks to politicians in exchange for loans from municipalities.
Freedom Under Law, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Judges Matter and Defend Our Democracy are leading the charge for Simelene to explain as she is at the helm of state security agencies, including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Daily Maverick reported on Monday that Simelane, while serving as mayor of Polokwane, made two unlawful investments into VBS Mutual Bank.
The payments reportedly appear to be linked to kickbacks paid in exchange for deposits the municipality made into VBS Mutual Bank. It is further alleged that these bribes were paid to a company, which then used a significant portion of that money to pay towards a loan used for the purchase of a coffee shop by the minister.
The reports state that Simelane has claimed the transaction was a legitimate commercial loan that was fully repaid; however, neither the loan agreement nor proof of settlement of the loan have been provided.
“It is crucial that the minister responds fully and transparently to these allegations. Perceptions of corruption and conflicts of interest cause significant harm to public confidence in governance institutions and the rule of law,” the civil society organisations said in a joint statement.
“The minister carries political responsibility for key law enforcement agencies, which not only are at the forefront of the fight against corruption but are also involved in investigating and prosecuting the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank itself, a critical entity in the allegations against the her,” the statement further reads.
“SA has, on far too many occasions in recent years, suffered the effects of compromised individuals having a negative impact on the justice sector, and from the ravages of corruption. We continue to see the harm caused to governance institutions by unsuitable individuals, and how difficult it is to repair the damage they cause,” the civil society organisations said.
Opposition parties called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act against Simelane.
“It is completely untenable to have the minister of justice, responsible for protecting the rule of law, embroiled in the ongoing VBS fraud and corruption scandal,” GOOD said in a statement.
“I am of the view that the integrity of our justice system is at stake if the person tasked with upholding the law is potentially compromised by involvement in unlawful transactions linked to one of the most egregious corruption scandals that stole from the most vulnerable. Consequently, I am raising this issue as it demands immediate and thorough investigation to preserve the credibility and impartiality of our justice system,” ActionSA’s Parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said in a letter to Ramaphosa.
The EFF, meanwhile, called for Simelane’s resignation.
“It has come to light that while serving as the mayor of Polokwane in 2016, Simelane took a ‘commercial loan’ of R575,600 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company that brokered unlawful investments of R349m into VBS Mutual Bank on behalf of the Polokwane municipality. Owned by Ralliom Razwinane, who is currently on trial for fraud and corruption in relation to this scandal, Gundo was part of a series of corrupt transactions rewarded with kickbacks amounting to R24.2m for facilitating these illegal investments,” the EFF said in a statement.
Earlier in 2024, Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests found the EFF’s former deputy president Floyd Shivambu guilty of breaching the MPs’ code of ethical conduct and disclosure of members interests by failing to disclose the R180,000 of VBS Mutual Bank money he received.
The committee found that R180,000 was paid to him in 2017 by Sgameka, owned by his brother, Brian Shivambu.
The complaint was laid by a former MP and DA leader John Steenhuisen based on media reports by Daily Maverick, which alleged that the EFF, Shivambu and party president Julius Malema had profited from the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank.
Shivambu has since defected to the MK party.
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