• The Hawks targeted Justice Minister Thembi Simelane’s former personal assistant in a daylight raid.
• A warrant was obtained by the Hawks in Limpopo to compel the PA to hand over passwords to their private email, WhatsApp text messages, emails and documents.
• The investigation will include a R575 600 “loan” Simelane used to buy a small coffee shop in Sandton in 2016. 

The Hawks executed a search and seizure warrant on Justice Minister Thembi Simelane’s former personal assistant, based at the Polokwane municipality, last week to secure possible evidence of corruption linked to the municipality’s R349 million investment with VBS Mutual Bank in 2016 and 2017.

Simelane, who was the mayor of the municipality between 2014 and 2021, became an ultimate beneficiary of VBS-loot when she received an allegedly dubious R575 600 “loan” from a VBS fixer to buy a coffee shop in Sandton. This transaction forms part of the Hawks’ investigation.

News24 and Daily Maverick have seen a copy of the warrant, dated 29 August 2024, and a copy of the affidavit filed by Colonel Anton White of the Hawks in Limpopo in support of the warrant.

They reveal that a case relating to the R349 million the Polokwane municipality invested with VBS between 2016 and 2017 was registered in November 2019 with investigations focused on a possible violation of the Municipal Financial Management Act, possible corruption and possible money laundering in alleged contravention of the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act.

So far, VBS fixer Ralliom Razwinane, the owner of Gundo Wealth Solutions which paid for the coffee shop “loan” has been arrested. He stands trial on 13 counts of corruption as part of the main criminal case around the R2 billion theft that collapsed the bank in early 2018. He was charged with two offences, specially linked to commissions paid to his company, Gundo Wealth Solutions, by VBS in exchange for securing investments from the Polokwane municipality.

Prosecutors have labelled the payments corrupt, according to an indictment handed to the High Court.

The warrant was obtained in secret to prevent possible suspects of the investigation from being alerted. It leaked in the meantime and now circulates in political circles in Polokwane.

The Hawks, officially known as the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, quietly visited the municipal officers in Burger Street on Friday, 30 August, according to two sources who have direct knowledge of events at the municipality on the day.

The warrant demanded that the former personal assistant hand over cellphones, laptop, documents and the passwords to their private email accounts.

“It has been established through investigations and analyses of computers previously seized from the municipality, that emails were sent to …relating to VBS. By virtue of [their] post, [they] will be in possession of said emails and documents relating to VBS. From the same devices it was found that WhatsApp messages were sent to [their] cellphone,” White stated in motivation for the warrant.

In his affidavit in support of the warrant, White reveals that WhatsApp texts were sent to the PA “relating to VBS, Gundo and Razwinane”. He argued that the PA was central to “the flow of communication between municipal officials, Gundo and Razwinane”.

The PA is not being named as it appears the person is not a target of the criminal investigation, but was merely the functionary who the Hawks believe has access to information they need.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo was asked on Wednesday to confirm the execution of the warrant but had yet to respond at the time of publication.

WATCH | Justice minister took half-a-million-rand ‘loan’ from accused VBS investment broker

The nature of the documents sought by the Hawks places not only Gundo’s interactions with the municipality under the microscope but will also lead to evidence around the coffee shop transaction and possible communication between Razwinane and Simelane.

The search and seizure application was initiated three days after News24 and Daily Maverick revealed the existence of Simelane’s “loan” from Gundo to buy the coffee shop, located in Fredman Towers in Sandton, Johannesburg.

A recreation of Gundo Wealth Solutions’ VBS bank statement showing the transactions related to the purchase of Justice Minister Thembi Simelane’s coffee shop in 2016.

A joint investigation by the publications based on banking records, unpublished forensic reports, the VBS indictment and sources revealed that the “loan” was paid from Gundo’s own VBS account to Ricovert, the company that sold the business to Simelane.

It is unclear why Gundo paid the money directly to Ricovert, and it is among several questions the authors put to Simelane, which she failed to answer.  

Simelane’s version of taking out a “commercial loan” from Gundo is questionable for a number of reasons:

• She received the sole loan issued by Razwinane that year.
• His company Gundo was not a credit provider and therefore not allowed to issue lawful loans. Gundo was also a service provider to the Polokwane municipality while Simelane was the mayor.
• The “loan” was paid out in two transactions days after the municipality made two large investments in VBS to the tune of R130 million, with more to come.
• An analysis of bank records shows there was no cash other than the VBS loot in the Gundo account when Simelane received the R575 600.

It means she directly benefitted from the crimes committed at VBS. The conflict of interest of her position as mayor taking out a “loan” from her municipality’s service provider seems glaring, but Simelane denied that there was any.

She also denied any conflict between her oversight of the National Prosecuting Authority, which is responsible for raft of criminal VBS cases, and her own links to VBS.

Razwinane, a politically connected financial advisor was paid about R24 million in kickbacks by VBS through Gundo’s various bank accounts in exchange for securing investments from municipalities in the bank. At least R1.7 million in kickbacks are linked to the Polokwane transactions.

A graphic showing money flows around the purchase of a Sandton coffee shop.

READ | Simelane’s coffee shop: Fixer’s sole loan in 2016 paid with ‘corrupt’ VBS kickback cash

The delay in pursuing the Polokwane investigation, sources with direct knowledge said, was due to the large number of cases around VBS, which required extensive investigation.

According to a letter obtained by News24 and Daily Maverick, White had requested detailed documentation from the municipality on 3 June 2020, when Simelane was still the mayor.

While the investments were unlawful, Polokwane did not lose money as many other municipalities did because it had withdrawn all its investments prior to the bank’s collapse in 2018.

Simelane previously failed to fully answer questions from News24 and Daily Maverick, which sought to establish how she had come to discuss a possible loan with Razwinane, whose company had signed a three-year contract with the municipality to provide investment brokerage services.

In September 2016, the money started flowing to VBS from Polokwane. On 14 and 17 October, just as VBS was paying Gundo commissions for securing the Polokwane investments, the coffee shop transaction was completed.

READ: Simelane’s coffee shop: Fixer’s sole loan in 2016 paid with ‘corrupt’ VBS kickback cash

Simelane, who has denied impropriety said the transaction was above board and that she had repaid the loan in full.

Questions about the possibly unlawful process of obtaining the “loan”, and whether it was a “loan” at all, remain unanswered. When pressed by reporters to provide proof of the repayment, she failed to deliver. 

Simelane is due to appear before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development this morning (Friday morning) to answer questions from MPs about the loan.

President Cyril Ramaphosa further asked Simelane for a report on the allegations and the transaction, while her ANC’s integrity commission will also look at the matter.

Opposition parties, Action SA and the DA, have called for Simelane’s suspension while investigations continue in addition to filing complaints with the Public Protector.

As the justice minister, Simelane has oversight of the National Prosecuting Authority, which has overseen a sprawling investigation into the theft of VBS depositors’ money as well as numerous instances of corruption linked to politicians and other municipal officials.

She has maintained that she is not conflicted as a result of her interaction with Gundo and Razwinane.

Razwinane did not answer questions put to him.