Ramaphosa trapped in 'Gupta-style' scandal
Publish date: 19 November 2018
Issue Number: 4590
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: State capture
Daggers have been drawn against President Cyril Ramaphosa over his astonishing about-turn over a R500 000 donation from the politically connected Watson family, notes Legalbrief. Having told Parliament, in answer to a question from DA leader Mmusi Maimane, that the money was legitimate payment to his son, Andile, for work done for the Bosasa logistics group, now known as African Global Operations, he has admitted that his ANC election campaign benefited from the donation. Now the DA is demanding a full investigation of all arrangements between members of the ANC and Bosasa (see report below). A Sunday Times report says Ramaphosa's backers will meet today to plot their next move to save a presidency that began with high promise after his election at the ANC's conference in December last year. Ramaphosa's backers say they only became aware last week that the R500 000 was a campaign donation. And as a first step, they intend to give back the money. They also committed to an audit of all donations made to the campaign bank account. The Sunday Times report suggests many of those pinned by evidence led at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture are eager to discredit Ramaphosa's clean-up presidency by drawing parallels with former President Jacob Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family. An indication of how seriously Ramaphosa views the scandal as a threat to his presidency became apparent in Parliament when he said he would be the first to send his son to prison if wrongdoing related to Bosasa was proved.
Ramaphosa claims the donation by Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson was received without his knowledge in October 2017. This, says a News24 report, emerged in a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, stating he had provided incorrect information when responding to questions in Parliament 11 days ago. His campaign management team said there were various structures, including a finance task team, whose sole responsibility was to raise funds for activities that would be undertaken by volunteers and other members of team CR17. To avoid conflicts of interests and to eliminate any expectation of ‘reciprocal intent, action or preferential treatment by donors, real or perceived’, the fundraising team was isolated from other operations. Speaking about the Bosasa monies, his team said it had resolved to return the funds. It would also request the donors’ list from the fundraising team to conduct an audit to ‘ensure that fundraising processes and sources of funds were above board’. ‘President Ramaphosa was not aware of the payment, either at the time it was made or when he was answering questions in the National Assembly. His response was an honest reflection of the information available to him at the time.’ It said donations were received from 200 individuals across the country. The campaign funds received were used to pay for venue hires, transport, accommodation, communications and other campaign related activities. His team said that Bosasa money was paid into a trust account that was one of the avenues used by the CR17 campaign to temporarily house the funds raised. ‘Subsequent to the ANC’s Nasrec Conference, the CR17 campaign folded its operations and used all remaining funds to settle its obligations to service providers.’
Maimane argues Ramaphosa didn’t declare the Bosasa payment because it is dirty money. He said it ‘looks suspiciously like all other ANC government corruption deals'. ‘This goes beyond just campaign financing. This is a kind of insider trading – where a company 'invests' heavily in a candidate, knowing that it will pay off multiple times over if the candidate is successful through preferential treatment when it comes to tenders,’ Maimane is quoted as saying in a News24 report. ‘No wonder the President didn’t declare this payment – it’s dirty money.’ Maimane noted Ramaphosa was not the only ANC member to score with Bosasa. ‘A long list of ANC Ministers and other cadres of the party received extensive security upgrades like CCTV cameras, alarm systems and electric fencing free of charge from Bosasa. This list includes Gwede Mantashe, Nomvula Mokonyane, Thabang Makwetla, Dudu Myeni, Linda Mti, Mbulelo Gingcana and Vincent Smith. He (Ramaphosa) now wants us to believe he knew nothing of the money at the time it was paid.’ A second News24 quotes Maimane as saying he will be writing to Ramaphosa to request that he appoints an independent inquiry to fully investigate the Bosasa scandal. He said the inquiry should be headed by a retired judge to be selected by the Chief Justice. He wants it to investigate: The full extent of Bosasa’s corrupt influence on the government; all payments made by Bosasa to politicians, or their families, trusts or companies; the full involvement of the President and his family to this scandal; and any other related issues and payments. ‘There can’t be double standards. President Ramaphosa has appointed independent inquiries to investigate corruption elsewhere. Now the same standard must apply to him and his family,’ Maimane said.
The EFF has climbed on the bandwagon, urging Ramaphosa to take full responsibility and admit that he lied to Parliament. EFF leader Julius Malema said Ramaphosa thought he was going to spin the issue, but now it has backfired on him, notes another News24 report. ‘The President must take full responsibility and admit that he lied to Parliament,’ Malema said. ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu tweeted on Saturday that the President showed he was a true leader when he retracted the answer he gave to Parliament when he realised it was incorrect. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said given the fact that Ramaphosa misled Parliament, it would only be ‘fair’ if he came back to the National Assembly and took MPs into his confidence on the matter and explained under which circumstances he misled them, notes a Business Day report. Meanwhile, a senior ANC leader aligned to Ramaphosa said the Bosasa matter was being used in a factional way by the President’s detractors within the party, and that this must be seen against the backdrop of the noose tightening on corruption. The leader said the issue was a non-story and he believed it would blow over quickly, as the party was now focusing on elections. He did say, however, there was push-back within the party from the ‘other group’ and that this relates to the Zondo Commission, among other matters. Another Ramaphosa ally said while the Zuma group would seek to capitalise on this, there was no reason for him to worry. ‘The President made it clear to the campaign team that money would not be used to buy votes, but rather for the running of the campaign. There was never an agenda to do favours for people who gave money,’ the source is quoted as saying. Ramaphosa will face MPs when he appears before the NCOP this week.
