Public Protector confirms Bosasa/Ramaphosa web of corruption runs much wider than initially thought
9 April 2019
Today I met with Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to obtain an update on the DA’s complaint over President Ramaphosa’s misleading of Parliament regarding his R500 000 “donation” received from Bosasa CEO, Gavin Watson.
Over 5 months ago, President Ramaphosa misled Parliament about the R500 000 "donation" received from Bosasa CEO, Gavin Watson, and the clear relationship and conflict of interest that exists between him, his son, Andile Ramaphosa and Bosasa. I submitted a complaint to the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, on 23 November 2018 about this lie and the conflict of interest in the relationship between the President, his son and Bosasa.
Adv Mkhwebane has confirmed today that while she has initially hoped the investigation would be finalized by February 2019, it became apparent during the process of investigating the matter that the nature and extent of the relationship between the Ramaphosa’s and Bosasa runs much deeper than initially thought.
Therefore, the Public Protector has decided to significantly widen the ambit of the investigation to include other issues uncovered during the investigation - including possible financial irregularities - and that his investigation will continue well past election day on 8 May. This means Cyril Ramaphosa will go into a General Election with serious allegations of corruption hanging over his head.
This confirms our long held claim that the President and his son are involved in improper business dealings with a company that has testified that it has been bribing ANC politicians for the last two decades. Bosasa contracts with the ANC government total over R10 billion. Like the Zuma-Gupta relationship, the Ramaphosa-Bosasa relationship follows the standard ANC triangle of corruption: the ANC-in-government gives lucrative tenders to connected cronies who bribe officials, which in return funds the ANC
The Public Protector confirmed that she has to date:
- Engaged the President, his CR17 campaign team and Bosasa;
- Subpoenaed bank statements and attorneys on each side;
- Requested an affidavit from Andile Ramaphosa on his version of events.
Today’s meeting with the Public Protector confirms that there is still much we do not know about this improper relationship and it is now imperative that the President comes clean with the people of South Africa. I have therefore written to the Chief Justice of the Zondo Commission into State Capture for the President to be subpoenaed to appear before the Commission over his and his family’s conflict of interest with Bosasa. Ramaphosa needs to account to the commission and the nation as to the ever-growing list of transactions, contracts and business dealings between his family and Bosasa.
I have also requested to view the President’s declaration of interests since his election in February 2018 because section 2.3(d) of the Executive Ethics Code states that members of the Executive may not “Use their position or any information entrusted to them, to enrich themselves or improperly benefit any other person.” (Emphasis added). If President Ramaphosa has failed to disclose any conflict of interest as it relates to his son, then the Public Protector must further investigate whether the President has breached the Executive Ethics Act.
There has been no change in the ANC since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as President. Even former President Kgalema Motlanthe commented that the ANC is in worse shape now under Cyril Ramaphosa than it was before.
We must remove the entire ANC on 8 May and hire a DA-led government that has zero tolerance for corruption.
Issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 9 April 2019
