South Africa's justice minister denies corruption allegations against her in a mutual bank scandal

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South Africa’s justice minister has denied corruption allegations against her related to a mutual bank scandal in which thousands of retirees lost their life savings

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's justice minister on Friday denied corruption allegations against her related to a mutual bank scandal in which thousands of retirees lost their life savings.

VBS Mutual Bank, which held the savings of retirees mostly from the northern Limpopo province and also unlawfully secured investments from local municipalities, was declared insolvent and bankrupt in 2018 after it emerged that more than 2 billion rand ($112 million) had been stolen from the bank.

Police investigations showed that money held by the bank was used to purchase luxury houses and vehicles, among other things, and to distribute financial gifts to various people and organizations, including political parties.

Justice Minister Thembi Simelane was only appointed to her position in June in the country's newly-formed government of national unity, after the former ruling African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in the May 29 election.

She is alleged to have received a “loan” to purchase a coffee shop from a company accused of receiving kickbacks for brokering unlawful investments for VBS from South African municipalities, including the Polokwane municipality where she was mayor at the time.

There have been calls from various quarters for Simelane to be removed from her position as justice minister, where she provides political oversight of the National Prosecuting Authority, which is trying corruption cases related to VBS.

Responding to questions in Parliament, Simelane insisted that she the loan she received was above board and that she had