By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa’s Minister of Justice, Thembi Simelane has denied allegation of corruption against her, involving a bank scandal in which thousands of retirees lost their life savings.
VBS Mutual Bank, which held the savings of retirees mostly from the northern Limpopo province and also unlawfully secured investments from local municipalities, was declared insolvent and bankrupt in 2018 after it was alleged that over 2 billion rand ($112 million) had been stolen from it.
Funds were diverted from the bank and used in the purchase of luxury houses and vehicles among other things, police investigation had indicated.
Part of the fund had also been distributed as financial gifts to various individuals and organizations, including political parties, the probe discovered further.
Simelane who was appointed in June was alleged to have received a “loan” to purchase a coffee shop from a company accused of receiving kickbacks for brokering unlawful investments for VBS from South African municipalities, including the Polokwane municipality where the Minister was once a mayor.
Her appointment into the President Cyril Ramaphosa unity government followed the country’s newly-formed government, after the former ruling African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in the May 29 election.
There have been calls from various quarters for Simelane to be removed from her position as the country’s Minister of Justice where she provides political oversight of the National Prosecuting Authority, which is trying corruption cases related to VBS.
Responding to questions in Parliament on Friday, Simelane insisted that the loan she received was not in question and that she had paid it back with interest.
Simelane also denied that the loan was in anyway related to the municipality she was in charge of investing into the bank.
She denied any conflict of interest regarding the investigations into VBS’ collapse and her responsibilities as a minister.
“The minister does not decide who should be prosecuted or not prosecuted. I offered impartiality to the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority),” Simelane said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose government has promised to be tough on corruption in the government and state-owned enterprises since he was reelected as president this year, has faced pressure from opposition parties and civil society groups to fire Simelane.
Investigations against those involved in the looting of the bank have already resulted in convictions against some of the alleged masterminds behind the scheme to steal from the bank.
Tshifiwa Matodzi, the bank’s former chairman, was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison after entering into a plea deal with the state.
