By Daanyaal Matthews
Recent reports allege that Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane overbilled Eskom during her tenure at Vitrovian, prompting the
DA—an ANC Government of National Unity (GNU) partner—to pursue criminal charges against her. Simelane, who served as project director at Vitrovian between 2011 and 2012, is accused of inflating invoices to the state-owned enterprise by nearly R700,000.
Speaking on VOC Newsbeat, Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove or force Minister Simelane to step aside.
“The President should have removed her from the start—not just moved her sideways to Human Settlements but taken her out of Cabinet entirely. Maybe this will change his mind, and he will act decisively this time. A person with this kind of conduct should not hold a Cabinet position,” argued Duvenage.
Calls for Simelane’s removal have persisted since allegations surfaced linking her to the VBS scandal. As the former mayor of Polokwane, she allegedly accepted a R500,000 bribe from Gundo Wealth Solutions. The minister, however, maintains that the payment was a personal loan she secured to finance a coffee shop.
Duvenage warned that the longer these allegations remain unaddressed, the greater the damage to the government’s credibility.
“There’s too much negativity surrounding Minister Simelane, and it puts the President under immense pressure. He needs to step up, take control, and stop making excuses. Clean governance and public trust cannot be restored if individuals implicated in corruption remain in office. This situation has already gone too far,” he stressed.
Listen to the full interview here:
