No interference at NPA: Presidency on delayed Simelane decision

There is no evidence that the revelations against justice minister Thembi Simelane are in any way affecting the functioning of her department or its agencies such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

This is why President Cyril Ramaphosa is taking his time to apply his mind on what action he should take in relation to the minister.

So says Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who on Thursday said Ramaphosa was not oblivious to the anxiety the matter is causing the public.

However, the President could not be rushed into taking a decision, especially if the revelations that Simelane received a loan from a company linked to the VBS Mutual Bank looting are not affecting the running of her department.

“As things stand, there's no evidence that the revelations about the minister's past financial transactions have had any impact on the functioning of the department,” said Magwenya. “There is no evidence of any political interference whatsoever, at least to the President's knowledge, and so the department and the agencies within the department continue to operate as they are expected to operate and continue to work towards the fulfilment of their mandate.”

Magwenya was answering questions related to allegations that Simelane received a questionable loan from a company linked to VBS during her tenure as mayor of Polokwane.

It was revealed that Simelane entered into a loan agreement of R575,600 from Gundo Wealth to buy a coffee shop in Sandton.

The company is said to have brokered a deal that saw the Polokwane municipality, of which Simelane was the mayor, invest R349m in the now-defunct VBS.

The company is alleged to have received kickbacks of at least R24.2m for brokering investments from municipalities and state entities through allegedly corrupt transactions and breaches of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

The time it has taken Ramaphosa to act on Simelane has raised the ire of many, including partners in the government of national unity.

“In taking his time to process the matter, the president is not doing so at the expense of the required stability within the portfolio,” said Magwenya. “And so we should be comforted by the fact that it is a matter that is top of mind for the president.

“It has not been relegated to the bottom of the list at all, but in thinking about it and processing it and taking his time in doing so does not discount the importance of that portfolio and the need for stability in it. As things stand, there's no evidence to suggest that there's instability either in the department or in any of the agencies.”

Magwenya said Sim

elane had not been charged owing to the allegations against her. He added that he was not suggesting that the president was waiting for evidence of instability in the department before he acted.

“The matter is top of mind, he is processing it, he's thinking it through and in so saying I'm just appealing for patience. Let's give the president the time he needs to deal with the matter,” he said.

Magwenya said Ramaphosa would be meeting the provincial governments of Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal in the coming days to dive deep into issues affecting municipalities in the two provinces.

He said Ramaphosa was concerned that it appeared little was being done to address concerns that were continuously being raised by the auditor-general's office.

Magwenya said it was not out of the ordinary for Ramaphosa to meet provincial executives and mayors as he has done so through the presidential co-ordinating council but that he was now taking it “a notch up” to directly meet the entire provincial executive.

“Part of what the president wants to discuss with the premiers and the executives is what do we do with issues at the local government level that seem to be prolonged and unresolved for quite some time,” said Mangwenya.

“Year in and year out the president is in receipt of AG's reports that point to ongoing mismanagement and failure to adhere to governance rules. And so this time around, the president wants to take a more proactive approach in dealing with some of those issues working closely with the provincial executives.”

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