Following the release of the CR17 campaign funders’ bank statements, the Presidency has denied any wrongdoing, while Cyril Ramaphosa’s lawyers are arguing that the information may have been obtained illegally.
The CR17 Bank statements form part of the legal papers that have been presented by Ramaphosa in his challenge to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report over the money donated to his campaign. Mkhwebane’s report also considered evidence in the form of leaked emails that revealed that President Ramaphosa lied to Parliament about a R500 million donation from controversial Bosasa chief executive Gavin Watson. However, Ramaphosa’s lawyer, Peter Harris, says that the documents should be sealed because of concerns over privacy rights.
“The information, supposedly held only by the Public Protector, includes bank statements of third parties, which record private transactions and which are strictly confidential,” the Presidency said, as reported by IOL. “[Ramaphosa’s lawyers requested] that certain information contained in the record of the Public Protector’s investigation into allegations against the President not be made public. This request is pending a determination on whether the information was obtained lawfully and whether it was lawfully sourced in relation to the complaint under investigation.”
On Tuesday, ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe revealed details on at last month’s NEC meeting, where members of the party “reflected on the methodologies for campaigning as well as funding for such activities, and resolved to direct the national officials to look into how these processes may be better managed in the future”.
“The ANC is not aware of any acts of illegality on the part of a campaign conducted by any leader of the ANC, including President Ramaphosa,” Mabe said.
“The leaked emails are nothing but a calculated manoeuvre to defocus and detract from the immediate task of socio-economic issues, and dealing with the challenges of our economy.”
Meanwhile, the Presidency has denied any wrongdoing and that the team ran was a “clean campaign”.
“Neither the President nor the campaign has done anything wrong, ethically or legally,” a statement from the Presidency read. “It is a common and accepted practice in South Africa and across the world for parties and candidates to raise funding from donors for campaigns.
“From the outset, the CR17 campaign team and the candidate agreed that this should be a clean campaign that operated within the necessary legal prescripts and in line with the values and principles of their organisation.”
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