ActionSA will be filing criminal charges against the Minister of Justice, Thembi Simelane, tomorrow over the VBS loan saga. According to party, the case will be opened at the Polokwane SAPS. This comes after reports over the weekend that the loan agreement contract which the minister took in 2016 might have been backdated.

VIOLATION

Simelane came under fire last month when it emerged that she took a R575 000 loan from an investment broking company that illegally facilitated investments for municipalities with VBS. The company is owned by Ralliom Razwinane, who is currently on trial facing fraud and money laundering charges in relation to the VBS bank heist. Simelani took the loan in 2016 when she was still the mayor of Polokwane Municipality, which is one of the many municipalities that lost millions after they illegally invested with the now collapsed VBS bank. "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 millions of Polokwane Municipality's funds into the now-collapsed VBS Bank."

SEEMS LIKE FRAUD

ActionSA emphasised that the new information suggesting the probable backing of the loan agreement to potentially conceal the transaction warrants a criminal investigation. "As such, ActionSA will be filing criminal charges. ActionSA Member of Parliament, Malebo Kobe, will be joined by Limpopo Provincial Chairperson, Victor Mothemela, to file the charges." In an article by News24 it was revealed that the document's content shows that the "loan" agreement includes an acknowledgement by Simelane and sets out the payment dates and repayment timeline. According to the article, the agreement for repayments is written on plain white paper with no company logos, director information, or official-looking markings in the header or footer of the page. "Closer examination reveals that a critical section of the document in which the payment dates are discussed includes two consecutive paragraphs, written in the future and past tense, that appear to contradict the date the document was signed," read the article.