Bosasa saga: DA calls for an full scale investigation
19 November 2018
DA leader Mmusi Maimane says he will be writing to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday to request that he appoints an independent inquiry to fully investigate the Bosasa scandal, which now involves the President and his family.
Maimane said the inquiry should be headed by a retired judge to be selected by the Chief Justice. He wants it to investigate:The full extent of Bosasa’s corrupt influence on the government;All payments made by Bosasa to politicians, or their families, trusts or companiesThe full involvement of the President and his family to this scandal; andAny other related issues and payments.
"There can’t be double standards. President Ramaphosa has appointed independent inquiries to investigate corruption elsewhere. Now the same standard must apply to him and his family," Maimane said in a statement issued on Sunday.
"He must appoint an independent inquiry to investigate Bosasa’s enormous and likely corrupt influence on the government and the ANC."
On Saturday Ramaphosa's campaign team said it would pay back the R500 000 Bosasa donation that was given to his 2017 ANC presidential campaign
His team indicated in a statement that Ramaphosa was not involved in fundraising efforts. They said he also didn't have a record of donors, although he was asked on occasion to attend dinners with potential donors.
The campaign team added: "At no point were any funds transferred to the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, his relations or to President Ramaphosa himself."
On Friday Ramaphosa said the donation by Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson was received without his knowledge in October 2017.
This emerged in a letter to the speaker of the National Assembly, stating that he had provided incorrect information when responding to questions in Parliament 11 days ago.
Ramaphosa was responding to a question from DA leader Mmusi Maimane over the payment by saying that he had questioned his son, Andile Ramaphosa and learned that the payment was in respect of a consultancy contract his son’s company had signed with Bosasa, now named African Global Operations.
But just hours later, Andile denied to News24 that this specific payment ever reached him.
The president's campaign management team said there were various structures, including a finance task team, whose sole responsibility was to raise funds for activities that would be undertaken by volunteers and other members of team CR17.
To avoid conflicts of interests and to eliminate any expectation of "reciprocal intent, action or preferential treatment by donors, real or perceived", the fundraising team was isolated from other operations.
Maimane has indicated that he has already submitted two separate applications in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) – one to the Presidency and one to the African Global Group – to gain access to the contract for services rendered by the Andile Ramaphosa to Bosasa.
"The President told Parliament that such a contract exists, and that he had personally seen it," Maimane said.
"This Inquiry should also determine whether the President lied to Parliament when he answered my question in the House about this payment," he added.
