The ANC integrity commission (IC) has cleared Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane of any criminal wrongdoing, as it could not find any conflict of interest after she acquired a loan from Gundo Wealth, a company implicated in the VBS scandal.
The commission’s report, dated September 25, 2024, which Sunday World has seen, found that Simelane could not be linked to the R2 billion looting of VBS funds.
“The [commission’s] assessment is that there is no evidence that Cde Simelane was involved in the planned VBS corruption,” reads the report due to be presented to the ANC national executive committee meeting this weekend.
The commission recommended, however, that due to an ethical lapse, Simelane “must attend, at her own cost, a course on integrity and governance that will enable, amongst
other things, a deeper understanding of conflict of interest, ethical leadership, and standards of integrity”.
The commission also instructed Simelane to report back to it within a month of finalising the course and convince it how “she will utilise that information in her deployment both as an ANC leader and as a senior cabinet minister”.
Simelane this week declined to comment, saying: “The matter is still between me and the integrity committee.”
The commission conducted two virtual meetings with Simelane, at her request, on September 25 and December 5 last year.
Simelane sought to clarify media speculation connecting her to the VBS scandal, suggesting that the loan was a kickback in return for Gundo’s work with Polokwane municipality when she was mayor in 2016.
She admitted that her acquisition of a loan from Gundo Wealth, a firm appointed by the Polokwane municipality as an investment manager, became controversial due to her position and the firm’s role in the VBS investment.
The IC focused on four key issues: conflict of interest in personal dealings, understanding laws without prior experience, vulnerability from personal choices, and investment dealings with VBS.
Simelane defended her actions, stating: “There was no conflict of interest,” since Gundo Wealth wasn’t paid by the municipality for its services.
She acknowledged a lack of awareness that the firm was also a commissioning agent for VBS until after the scandal emerged.
The commission questioned Simelane’s decision-making, asking if she had sought commercial bank loans.
She revealed: “I first tried my pension fund,” but failed to secure a commercial loan. On investment missteps, Simelane noted the municipality’s ultimate decision to withdraw from VBS
after compliance advice from the new municipal manager.
Addressing lifestyle choices, Simelane cited her investment in a coffee shop for financial security post-divorce and attributed her luxury spending to her former marriage to a wealthy businessman.
Simelane lamented the media’s invasive scrutiny, terming it “extremely painful.”
Simelane came under fire after it was revealed that she took an R575 600 loan with Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company that facilitated investments by the Polokwane local municipality in the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank in 2016, while she was mayor of the city.
That was to buy a franchise for a coffee shop.
Sunday World reported previously that Simelane told President Cyril Ramaphosa she had paid back “Gundo Wealth Solutions an amount of R849 999, for which R575 600 was the capital amount outstanding and an amount of R274 399 was interest on the loaned amount”.
There was political pressure, both from the ANC and the opposition, that Simelane must resign due to a conflict of interest, which she had denied, saying she was not a subject of any law enforcement investigation.
Facing public pressure, Ramaphosa swapped Simelane with Mmamoloko Kubayi in a low-key cabinet reshuffle last December.
Kubayi is now the justice minister, while Simelane is the minister of human settlements.
