The Democratic Alliance (DA) will now lay criminal charges against Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane after she was named in a News24 investigation involving Eskom and contractor Vitrovian, alleging that she was paid R700 000 during her employment at Vitrovian to provide community liaison services aimed at stopping wage protests at Eskom’s Kusile power plant.

The DA will also be writing to the National Prosecuting Authority to follow up on another investigation on Simelane’s alleged involvement with a VBS Mutual Bank loan and it wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Simelane from Cabinet.

The allegations against Simelane in the Vitrovian investigation allege that the company inflated charges and billed Eskom for work done by ghost employees.

“Simelane’s signature appears on the very first of these inflated invoices,” pointed out DA spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach.

“The DA is astonished by the President’s continued insistence on hiding what he knows about Simelane’s corrupt dealings from the public. The DA refuses to give up in its fight against the ANC’s protection of corrupt officials and will do everything in its power to end the culture of criminality which permeates ANC structures right to the very top,” she added.

The DA asked the Presidency to make public Simelane’s report to Ramaphosa on her involvement in the VBS matter but was rejected.

“The refusal once again relied on scant justification, incorrect law, and a failure to consider the public interest in the matter,” said Breytenbach.