Ramaphosa receives Simelane’s report on her VBS ‘loan’ debacle

Under-fire justice and constitutional development minister Thembi Simelane has submitted a report to President Cyril Ramaphosa about a loan she took from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Wednesday Ramaphosa was in receipt of Simelane’s report and will apply his mind over the matter. “In doing so, the president will not engage issues that he manages with ministers, including minister Simelane, in the public domain,” he said.

“The president appreciates the importance of the justice ministry in the leadership of the justice, security and crime prevention cluster and contribution to the successful functioning of the cluster. The president is committed to ensure the highest levels of integrity within the national executive. He will consider all the facts on the matter before making any determination,”

Simelane was mayor of Polokwane when she took the loan from the company, which brokered investments on behalf of VBS and the municipality, which invested R349m in the bank.

She told eNCA she did not have a choice but to take the loan from Gundo to start a business. She received about R575,000 loan to purchase a coffee shop in October 2016, which she said she repaid in full.

Simelane claimed she was unaware of Gundo’s involvement in the VBS collapse. “It is difficult for a person who looks like me to get a loan in the South African economy,” she said.

“It’s difficult to get a loan and start a business as an African child without any form of assistance. There are so many brilliant dreams and ideas that black young people have but there's no financing for them.”

The Sunday Times reported that Gundo was not a registered financial services provider.

“I don’t know who they [Gundo] were involved with. The only way to get to know where Gundo has invested will be through a Section 52 report, which comes every three months to update the council about the status of its investments, if there are any. That's how I could've known about their investments. In terms of the names of the people, I don’t know and I’ve never met them,” she said.

“I didn't know where the money was coming from. He was not dealing with the Polokwane municipality only. That’s why I said I never took a loan from VBS Mutual Bank when I was initially asked. That was the first time I found out where the money I got was coming from, so I wasn’t aware. They could have given me money that comes from their own businesses.”

A number of political parties and civil society organisations have called for Ramaphosa to fire Simelane, raising over the position of the minister in terms of her influence over the NPA which is trying to bring VBS looters to book.

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