ActionSA to lay charges against Simelane over VBS-linked loan
ActionSA is set to lay criminal charges against Justice Minister Thembi Simelane over the alleged loan she received from a company linked to VBS Mutual Bank.
ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe and Limpopo chairperson Victor Mothemela will lay the charges in Polokwane on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, ActionSA wrote to the Public Protector requesting that the watchdog investigate the issue.
Simelane is under pressure to step down after it emerged that she received a loan of more than R500,000 from a VBS-linked fixer, Gundo Wealth Solutions, during her tenure as Polokwane mayor.
The company’s owner, Ralliom Razwinane, has been charged with fraud, corruption, and money laundering related to facilitating connections and “investments” between municipalities, including the Polokwane Municipality and the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank.
"ActionSA will file criminal charges against the Minister of Justice, Thembi Simelane, for allegedly violating the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) in connection with the dodgy R575,600 so-called ‘loan’ she solicited during her tenure as Mayor of Polokwane from Gundo Wealth Solutions.
"It is well established that the so-called ‘loan’ was obtained in 2016 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, the same investment brokerage that unlawfully invested R349 million of Polokwane Municipality’s funds into the now-collapsed VBS Bank.
"New information suggesting the probable backdating of the loan agreement to potentially conceal the transaction warrants a criminal investigation.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa is yet to make a decision on Simelane’s future following a report that he received in which she details the circumstances of the alleged loan.
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