Babalo Ndenze9 September 2024 | 10:30

Simelane says she was only in contravention of Municipal Finance Management Act

Justice Minister Thembi Simelane said her R500,000 loan from the VBS Mutual Bank fixer, Gundo Wealth Solutions, can’t be referred to Parliament’s ethics committee because it happened before she became a member of Parliament.

Simelane says she was only in contravention of Municipal Finance Management Act

Minister of justice and Constitutional Development Thembi Simelane appears before the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services to explain matters related to VBS Mutual Bank, 6 September 2024. Picture: Phando Jikelo/Parliament of SA

CAPE TOWN - Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane says she was only in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

Simelane has come under fire for a loan she received from a company that is said to have looted money from the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

READ: Simelane says she did not have an 'improper relationship' with VBS fixer

She said her R500,000 loan from the VBS Mutual Bank fixer, Gundo Wealth Solutions, can’t be referred to Parliament’s ethics committee because it happened before she became a member of Parliament (MP).

“The investigation found me only in contravention of the MFMA [Municipal Finance Management Act], nothing else. If I did not want to pay, I was going to say even the investigation has cleared me in a way I’m fine.”

Simelane also said she had no idea where the money she was loaned came from.

“I had never had any knowledge of where the money came from because he, Ralliom Razwinane had his own account and his own business.”