President Cyril Ramaphosa removed embattled Thembi Simelane from the all-important justice ministry in a mini cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday evening.
Mmamoloko Kubayi will now be the minister of justice, while Simelane will take over the human settlements ministry.
Simelane has been embroiled in a litany of corruption allegations stemming from her time as Polokwane mayor.
She is accused of wrongdoing after admitting to obtaining a loan of more than R500,000 from a businessman who had facilitated the Polokwane municipality’s investment in the now-collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.
Two government officials earlier on Tuesday told TimesLIVE Premium that Ramaphosa would soon make changes to his executive as the cloud hanging over Simelane could not continue unabated.
“How long can you hold ground with a compromised minister of justice? The issue is not about the accusations, the issue is the portfolio that Thembi holds because bodies that could investigate her in the future also have to report to her,” said the senior government official before Ramaphosa’s announcement.
“Ultimately the problem is the portfolio she holds because she is not facing charges, but this can’t go on forever. Ultimately we have to resolve this.”
There have been calls for Ramaphosa to axe Simelane from his executive owing to the allegations she has been facing.
However, one of the officials said Simelane would not be completely removed from the cabinet as doing so would be unfair since she is not facing any formal charges.
Removing Simelane completely from the cabinet was not an option politically for Ramaphosa as Simelane remains one of his strong allies. But it would also not sit well with those in the ANC as Simelane is not facing any charges
Removing Simelane completely from the cabinet was not an option politically for Ramaphosa as Simelane remains one of his strong allies. But it would also not sit well with those in the ANC as Simelane is not facing any charges.
Ramaphosa would first have to remove his deputy Paul Mashatile, who is also facing accusations of corruption, and as with Simelane, he has also not been charged.
“If you remove her fully, how do you explain it, because there are no charges against her. The alleged offence took place when she was a mayor not even a minister. How do you justify it, how do you justify punishing her when there are no charges against her,” said the source.
“You have the DP [Mashatile] who has the same issues, and nothing can be done because there are no charges. All you can say is she is a minister of justice and you cannot have a minister who may be investigated at some stage still managing that portfolio, so you move her elsewhere.”
Simelane is said to have told those around her at the weekend that she had received questions from News24. The new agency on Tuesday published what it said was the first of a three-part series looking into Simelane’s alleged luxurious lifestyle.
News24 alleges that she has been living beyond her means.
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