President Cyril Ramaphosa has bowed to growing pressure, including from members of his cabinet, to remove Thembi Simelane from the department of justice in a mini cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.
Simelane will swap departments with human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi after coming under fire for a R575,000 loan she received through Gundo Wealth Solutions during her earlier tenure as mayor of Polokwane.
While Simelane says she paid back more than R800,000 to the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank on the loan involved, the presidency has not confirmed whether the loan agreement was among the documents contained in a report that Ramaphosa requested from the former justice minister.
Gundo Wealth Solutions was the broker acting on behalf of the collapsed VBS Mutual Bank in soliciting funds from municipalities to deposit funds with the bank, in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The DA, one of 10 parties in the government of national unity, has submitted an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to gain access to Simelane’s report to Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa also appointed Phumzile Mgcina as deputy minister of minerals & petroleum resources. Mgcina, who had been the deputy minister of employment & labour, swaps positions with Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala.
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