President Cyril Ramaphosa has been criticised for a “political manoeuvre” in which he moved corruption accused Justice Minister Thembi Simelane to another department as part of a mini-Cabinet reshuffle.

Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday that Simelane would be redeployed to the human settlements portfolio with Mmamoloko Kubayi to head up the justice ministry.

Simelane is accused of receiving a R500 000 “loan” from Gundo Wealth Solutions, which facilitated unlawful investments by the Polokwane local municipality in the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank in 2016, while she was mayor of the city.

Ramaphosa has faced immense pressure to act and suspend Simelane and remove her from the justice portfolio, with his critics saying there was a conflict of interest as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) falls under the Justice Department.

The DA’s spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development Glynis Breytenbach described the switching of Simelane to a different portfolio as “short-sighted and disrespectful to South Africa”.

“While the president has finally addressed the untenable conflict of interest of having a Minister of Justice accused of corruption, his decision to simply move her somewhere else does not address the underlying issue, she stands accused of corruption and is subject to investigations. Human Settlements is a vital department for providing housing to South Africans. It must be led by a credible individual,” Breytenbach said.

ActionSA’s parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said instead of taking decisive action, Ramaphosa “sought to shield” Simelane by announcing her transfer to Human Settlements.

“There is no scenario in which ActionSA is prepared to endorse the president’s abdication of his responsibility as the ultimate guardian of the nation’s integrity by merely reshuffling his Cabinet, expecting us to accept that the same person deemed unfit to serve as Justice Minister is now considered fit to lead a critically important portfolio like Human Settlements,” Trollip said.

The MK Party condemned the mini-reshuffle, saying this “is not about ensuring a more effective Cabinet, but is a calculated move to silence a principled leader who refuses to align with Mr Ramaphosa’s factional and self-serving agenda”.

The party’s spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said Simelane had raised serious concerns about key appointments within the NPA.

“These questionable decisions have not only compromised the integrity of the NPA but have also undermined the public’s trust in its ability to operate

independently and effectively,” Ndhlela said.

Political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast said despite the mini-reshuffle, Ramaphosa had still not taken action over the allegations against Simelane.

“What he has done is to employ strategies of political survival because this particular minister is one of the loyalists of the President when the ANC is under attack in Parliament, one of the people who normally defends the president.

“It actually confirms what some of us have been saying, that the ANC wants to fight against corruption in theory but not in practice,” Breakfast said.

Another analyst Professor Bheki Mngomezulu said Ramaphosa had not violated the Constitution through his reshuffle, but had put in place a political plan to resolve the issue of the cloud over Simelane.

“The question then is, is he acting in terms of in the interest of justice, or is he satisfying a particular dominant faction, so there is no havoc.”

THE MERCURY