Freedom Under Law notes with concern the President’s latest cabinet reshuffle which has seen Minister Thembi Simelane move to the Human Settlements portfolio and Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to Justice and Constitutional Development. The reshuffle is baffling given the serious allegations which remain regarding Ms Simelane’s probity. No matter the ministry she heads up, her credibility will be continue to be undermined for as long these allegations are not answered fully.
Just yesterday, reports emerged about Ms Simelane’s alleged lavish lifestyle seemingly far beyond her means during her tenure as Mayor of Polokwane. Those allegations come in the wake of unanswered questions regarding her connection to unlawful investments in VBS Mutual Bank also during her tenure as mayor of Polokwane in 2016.
At the time the allegations against Ms Simelane broke several months ago, Freedom Under Law and others called for full transparency relating to the allegations against the Minister. In August this year, President Ramaphosa requested ‘a detailed report and briefing from the minister on the matter” and in mid-September the President told the National Assembly, that he needed ‘”the time and opportunity to consider this matter so that finality can then be reached”.
Since then the President’s inexplicable inertia has compelled the Democratic Alliance to make a PAIA request for access to the report. FUL notes that the President’s statement regarding the reshuffle came without any proper justification nor did it provide details of the aforementioned report which he undertook to consider.
According to the reports, during 2016 and while Ms Simelane was serving as mayor of Polokwane, the Polokwane Municipality made two unlawful investments into the since-collapsed VBS mutual bank. It is said that these payments appear to be linked to kickbacks aid in exchange for the deposits into VBS by the municipality. It is further alleged that these kickbacks were paid to a company which then used a significant portion of the kickbacks to pay towards a loan which was used for the purchase of a coffee shop by the Minister.
In unsatisfactory responses in Parliament, Ms Simelane could produce neither the loan agreement nor proof of settlement of the loan.
FUL is of the view that the President has erred in exercising his executive authority and missed an opportunity to deal decisively with a member of his cabinet facing serious allegations of corruption, thereby sending a message that the government he leads is committed to accountable governance. The only appropriate action would have been to relieve Ms Simelane of her position as a cabinet minister. Equally, FUL notes that Ms Kubayi also has a background in neither law nor the administration of justice. At a time when the justice system is under serious pressure and our institutions are struggling to repurpose themselves after a decade of state capture, the new minister will need to do much to prove that she is up to the task.