Maimane still wants answers from Ramaphosa, despite Mkhwebane court ruling

11 March 2020 - 09:47 By Cebelihle Bhengu
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Osa leader Mmusi Maimane says President Cyril Ramaphosa and his son, Andile, must be transparent about their relationships with Bosasa.
Osa leader Mmusi Maimane says President Cyril Ramaphosa and his son, Andile, must be transparent about their relationships with Bosasa.
Image: Twitter/Mmusi Maimane

Osa leader Mmusi Maimane said President Cyril Ramaphosa and his son, Andile, owe South Africans full transparency regarding the extent of their relationships with controversial company Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations.

The former DA leader was responding to a Gauteng high court ruling on Tuesday, which found public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report on the CR17 campaign to be unlawful and recommended it be set aside.

Mkhwebane found the president deliberately misled parliament regarding a R500,000 donation made to his presidential campaign by late Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson.

The investigation followed a question about the donation in parliament by Maimane. Ramaphosa responded that the money was for a business deal between Andile and Bosasa. The president later corrected this in parliament, saying it was a donation towards his presidential campaign.

The court ruled that Mkhwebane had no jurisdiction to investigate the campaign and its donors. It also ruled that the president had no obligation to disclose the funders of his campaign.

Maimane said while many were calling for “incompetent” Mkhwebane to be axed, the bigger issue was that Ramaphosa owed South Africans a full explanation regarding the extent of his relationship with Bosasa.

“The issue at core is about accountability. It's about the fact that, all over the world, politicians and their children end up doing business with the state and those companies end up giving money and donations to big politicians.”

He said such relationships only benefited those who were politically connected.

“We should never lose track of accountability. As South Africans, all we ask is that every leader is accountable for their actions and the children of presidents must never benefit from deals.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa and public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane head back to court on March 10 2020. Ramaphosa applied to the high court in Pretoria to have the report into funding for his presidential campaign overturned and declared unlawful.The court heard arguments in the case in February 2020. Here's all you need to know.


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