The Democratic Alliance (DA) revealed on Tuesday that a South African Police Service (Saps) officer has been assigned to investigate the criminal charges it brought against Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane, with the party expressing confidence that there will be a thorough investigation into the allegations against her.

The DA had previously laid charges of corruption against Simelane, alleging theft of more than R700 000 by fraudulently billing Eskom when she worked for consulting firm Vitrovian.

Eskom is reported to have used Vitrovian to suppress protests at the Kusile power plant during its construction.

DA spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development Glynnis Breytenbach said Vitrovian’s charges to Eskom appeared to have been severely inflated, amid invoices by Vitrovian for work done by employees that did not exist.

Breytenbach said Simelane’s signature appeared on the very first of these fraudulent invoices, directly implicating her in the scandal.

“This is the latest criminal investigation into Simelane, who also faces serious criminal allegations for involvement in the looting of VBS Bank while she was the Executive Mayor of Polokwane,” Breytenbach pointed out.

The DA said it had long called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Simelane from the National Executive, along with other African National Congress (ANC) Ministers accused of corruption, urging him to act against what it called “ANC corruption”.

Following Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Andrew Whitfield’s recent axing for embarking on an overseas trip without the President's authorisation, the DA called on Ramaphosa to remove from his Cabinet Simelane, Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane and National Assembly member David Mahlobo.