What you said: Readers split over CR17 bank records remaining sealed

Readers are split over the Pretoria high court’s decision to keep bank records for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2017 presidential campaign sealed.

On Tuesday, the court dismissed with costs an application by the EFF to have the records made public.  

The documents were obtained by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane during her CR17 investigation, who handed them to the high court when Ramaphosa challenged her report. 

TimesLIVE ran a poll asking readers whether they agreed with the high court's decision.

Forty-five percent said if Ramaphosa had nothing to hide, the records should be made public. Forty-two percent agreed with the ruling and said the EFF was “beating a dead horse”, while 13% said unsealing the records would not change anything.

In his ruling, judge Cassim Sardiwalla said the issues raised by the EFF were not new.

“I can find no compelling reasons why the material should be disclosed to the public at large. The applicant has not advanced any public or private good that will be served by public disclosure as against the personal danger in which parties of the CR17 campaign concerned and their activities will be placed,” said Sardiwalla.

Speaking on Kaya FM after the ruling, EFF leader Julius Malema said Ramaphosa was elected under the banner of transparency and should maintain that stance by releasing the records.

“Ramaphosa holds a very big influence. Those who finance him, he develops a soft spot for them, and to hold him accountable you ought to know who are the people who financed the president, because you might find they are the ones actually running the state,” said Malema.

On social media, readers weighed in on the debate around the records remaining sealed.