Thembi Simelane ‘may not survive’ VBS allegations – analyst

Political analyst and North West University Professor Andre Duvenhage believes embattled Justice Minister Thembi Simelane “may not survive” the explosive VBS allegations and that President Cyril Ramaphosa will come under pressure to take action against her.

Simelane is scheduled to account to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice on Friday, following allegations that she funnelled millions into the now-defunct Venda Building Society (VBS) mutual bank when she was the mayor of Polokwane.

‘Simelane’s survival’

Ramaphosa last week summoned Simelane to provide a detailed report on allegations that linked her to the VBS scandal.

Duvenhage said he doesn’t see Simelane surviving the VBS scandal.

“The problem is Ramaphosa has Simelane within his cabinet, directly implicated the VBS Bank scandal and in that sense, I believe it is serious and to be consistent, I think there will be action taken against Simelane.

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“I cannot see her surviving this ordeal in a direct way. In fact, if what he said about her and if it is correct, I think there’s trouble. I don’t think the president will have another choice as to act,” Duvenhage said.

During a media briefing on Thursday following his state visit to China, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the allegations surrounding Simelane, related to the damning VBS bank, “will not be swept under the carpet.”

‘ANC playing’

Duvenhage said the African National Congress (ANC) is in a way “playing” with the Simelane issue.

“They must first go to the ethics committee of the party and then the party will decide. and you must take also into consideration that Simelane is not the only person in the cabinet implicated in this regard. The really big fish is Gwede Mantashe and the action against Simelane may implicate people like Gwede Mantashe.”

In 2022, the State Capture Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, recommended that Mantashe be probed for corruption after receiving security installations for free from Bosasa.

While Mantashe admitted that security upgrades were installed during his testimony before Zondo in 2021, the minister disputed that there was anything untoward about the installations.

Mantashe took the report on judicial review and has asked the Johannesburg High Court to set aside Zondo’s findings against him.

‘Simelane allegation problem for GNU’

Duvenhage said the corruption allegations against Simelane can become a real problem in the government of national unity (GNU).

“I think this can become a real problem within the government of national unity which I believe is a system. At the moment it is working, but it is also facing its real challenges. So, I’m seeing this as a big challenge for the government of national unity. It’s a challenge for the leadership of Ramaphosa and it’s a level of to be consistent against all people implicated in forms of corruption.”

He said the GNU is built on the principle of good governance.

“It is the rule of law principle and the concept of constitutional government. These are at the core of the agreement and that implicate amongst others, strong action against corruption and also the implementation of the Zondo Commission.

“We have seen that about all the culprits implicated or the major culprits implicated in the Zondo Commission is organizing themselves within the MK party thinking about people like lucky Montana and uh Brian Molefi and the others,” Duvenhage said.

‘Commercial loan’

Simelane allegedly took a R575,600 “commercial loan” from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company that brokered unlawful investments of R349 million into the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank by the Polokwane Municipality

Gundo Wealth Solutions is owned by Ralliom Razwinane.

Razwinane is currently on trial for fraud, corruption and money laundering for his role as a commission agent connecting municipalities with VBS.

Simelane used the “loan” to buy a coffee shop in two transactions in October 2016. The payments appear linked to kickbacks received in exchange for large deposits by Polokwane Municipality into VBS.

Simelane insists everything was “above board” and the loan was repaid.

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