Following today’s revelations before the Zondo Commission into State Capture, Bosasa’s former auditor, Peet Venter, has confirmed under oath that Cyril Ramaphosa has serious allegations of bribery and corruption to answer for. Cyril Ramaphosa now has no choice – he must now testify before the Zondo Commission before 8 May and explain under oath the full extent of the now exposed business relationship between the Ramaphosas and Bosasa. This includes:
- All contracts between the Ramaphosa family, its companies, and Bosasa;
- The number of payments Cyril Ramaphosa, and/or his children received from Bosasa or its CEO, Gavin Watson;
- The monetary value of such payments from Bosasa or Gavin Watson; and
- The reasons behind each payments.
Peet Venter’s testimony under oath today is in direct contradiction to President Ramaphosa’s official statement to Parliament, in which the President performed an about-turn and claimed that the R500 000 payment received from Bosasa was a donation to his own ANC presidential campaign. It appears that either Ramaphosa or Venter is lying.
This is unless of course there exists more that one R500 000 payment from Bosasa to the Ramaphosa’s. This is another unanswered question that Cyril Ramaphosa must answer before the Zondo Commission.
Over the past two decades, Bosasa have made it their business to bribe ANC politicians in order to secure lucrative contracts with government to the tune of billions of rands. This fact is central when considering tpayments from Bosasa to the ANC President and his family.
Today’s testimony before the Zondo Commission also points to a calculated campaign by Bosasa to buy politicians, including the funding of former SABC COO, Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s legal fees. It appears the corruption runs much deeper than first thought.
No one is above the law – least of all the President of the Republic. These allegations of bribery and corruption must be answered to under oath before the Zondo Commission, and this must happen before 8 May. South Africans cannot go to the polls to vote without knowing the truth about an individual who is running to be re-elected as President.
The time for hiding is over for Cyril Ramaphosa. The people of South Africa now deserve the full truth.