#Bosasagate: We welcome the Public Protector’s investigation into President Ramaphosa’s R500 000 Bosasa bribe
I welcome the decision by Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to accede to my formal request for an investigation into whether President Cyril Ramaphosa misled Parliament about the R500 000 ‘donation’ he received from Bosasa CEO, Gavin Watson, towards his campaign to be elected ANC President. Adv Mkhwebane’s decision is an important reminder to President Ramaphosa – and his pals in the ANC – that no one is above the law.
Last year November, the President performed a spectacular about-turn and was forced to admit to the nation that his campaign received dirty money from Bosasa. In light of former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi’s explosive testimony before the Zondo Commission over the past days, it is now imperative that we find out whether the President misled Parliament and the nation.
The fact is that President Ramaphosa received R500 000 from a company that has been paying the ANC bribes to secure government tenders for almost two decades. He can no longer mislead the public into believing that "he did not know." He is also on the record as having told Parliament that his son, Andile Ramaphosa, does lucrative paid work for Bosasa. All of this appears no different to every other bribe Bosasa paid to the ANC since 1999.
We reiterate our call for a full-scale independent inquiry - headed by a retired judge to be selected by the Chief Justice - to fully investigate the Bosasa scandal, which now involves the President and his family.
The Bosasa revelations have shattered the myth that corruption in the ANC was simply a feature of Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. A system of corruption that builds a wall between insiders and outsiders - the “haves” and the “have nots” - is in the very DNA of the ANC.
This weekend, South Africans have an opportunity to take power into their own hands, and register to vote for change that eradicates this system of corruption and builds One South Africa For All.
Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 26 January 2019
