High Court ruling on amaBhungane’s application in the matter between the President and the Public Protector regrettable
11 March 2020
My Vote Counts (MVC) notes the judgment delivered on 10 March 2020 in the matter of the President of the Republic of South Africa & Another and the Public Protector and Others in the Gauteng High Court. The judgments set aside Public Protector BusisiweMkhwebane’s 2019 report and findings into President Ramaphosa’s alleged misleading of Parliament related to a donation from Bosasa towards his CR17 campaign.
The Public Protector found that the President had deliberately misled Parliament, that there was evidence of money laundering in the CR17 campaign and proposed serious remedial action be taken. In what commentators describe as a scathing judgment, the Court found that the Public Protector had made fundamental errors in law and overstepped her jurisdiction in her investigation.
In its judgment the Court also dismissed an application made by the investigative journalism organisation, amaBhunghane, who joined the matter as a neutral party to argue that the Executive Ethics Code is unconstitutional. They argued that it was unconstitutional to the extent that it does not provide for disclosures of donations to internal party political contests.
The Code is meant to provide a framework for members of the Executive to perform their duties without running afoul of conflicts of interest, and to provide clarity for instances when they need to declare things such as financial interests, gifts or sponsorship they have received. Members of the Executive have to make such disclosures on an annual basis.