The ANC and the presidency have opted to remain mum on questions around the controversial letter President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent to the party’s integrity commission on their criticism about his failure to appear before them.
It emerged on Sunday night that Ramaphosa had written a scathing letter to the commission just three days before Christmas, in which he objected to its leaked report about his alleged conduct.
The commission had in 2018 requested Ramaphosa’s audience at the height of the controversy related to his CR17 campaign and the public protector’s investigation into whether he misled parliament about donations from Bosasa towards the campaign.
Instead of honouring the 2018 invite, Ramaphosa told the commission he could not appear as the CR17 campaign matter was still before the courts.
In a letter dated December 22, that Sunday Times Daily has seen, Ramaphosa bemoaned that the commission’s report portrays him as a “delinquent” who repeatedly refused to appear for almost two years.
Presidency spokesperson Tyrone Seale referred all questions to the ANC as “this is a party political matter” while the ruling party’s spokesperson Pule Mabe had not responded to questions by the time of publishing.
It was also not immediately clear if the letter was subject of discussion when the ANC top six officials met for the first time in 2021 on Monday.
The tone of Ramaphosa’s letter is in stark contrast to the interviews he had with the SABC and Newzroom Afrika after the ruling party’s annual January 8 statement, in which he commended the commission for taking a hardline against him.
In his letter, Ramaphosa told the commission chairperson George Mashamba the report misrepresented events that took place before his appearance.
What concerns me is the impression that is created which would appear like I was delinquent in the manner in which I dealt with the matter of my appearance before the integrity commission.
— President Cyril Ramaphosa
He said the commission’s report “seems to create an impression that I sought to avoid appearance before the IC [the commission]”.
“What concerns me is the impression that is created which would appear like I was delinquent in the manner in which I dealt with the matter of my appearance before the IC,” Ramaphosa said.
The tone of the letter is also in stark contrast to what he has been trying to achieve in the ANC since he took over.
In his bid to rid the ANC of corruption and corrupt-accused leaders, Ramaphosa has repeatedly called on every party deployee accused of wrongdoing or facing criminal charges to appear before the commission without any delay, failing which they would face suspension.
His continued failure to appear before the commission has raised questions.
“The IC pursued the matter of meeting with the president and requested over an 18 month period to meet with him several times both verbally and in writing,” the commission said.
“It did not sit well with the IC that the president especially, but also the officials, continually referred publicly to the importance of the IC and the work that was being done, but in reality there was little to no interaction.”
In his letter, Ramaphosa said he was surprised by the commission’s scathing report because as far as he was concerned his proposal to have his appearance postponed until the court matter was finalised was accepted by Mashamba.
“I am therefore surprised the chairperson’s report asserts that it is with ‘great disappointment to the IC when the president explained that since this was a legal matter, he did not feel it was right to discuss the CR 17 campaign funds until the legal matter was finalised.’ This sentiment was certainly not expressed to me by the chairperson at the time,” Ramaphosa said.
“My intention in making the proposal was by no means aimed at avoiding my appearance before the IC. In fact, the opposite is true.”
Ramaphosa’s letter emerged just days after he delivered the ANC’s annual January 8 statement, in which he vowed to give the commission more teeth.
“We reiterate, as resolved by the national conference, that every member accused of, or reported to be involved in, corrupt practices should account to the integrity commission immediately or face disciplinary processes. Members who fail to give an acceptable explanation or to voluntarily step down while they face disciplinary, investigative or prosecutorial procedures will be summarily suspended,” he said on Friday evening.
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