It has been 5 months to the day since President Ramaphosa misled Parliament about the conflict of interest between him, his son, Andile Ramaphosa, and Bosasa – the company that has been actively bribing ANC officials for almost 20 years.
I will therefore be meeting with the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, on Tuesday 9 April 2019, seeking an update on my complaint over the President’s misleading of Parliament regarding his and his son’s relationship with Bosasa, and the clear conflict of interest that exists between the Ramaphosa family and Bosasa.
I have also since written to the Chief Justice of the Zondo Commission into State Capture for the President to be subpoenaed to appear before the Commission over his and his family’s conflict of interest with Bosasa.
Ramaphosa needs to account to the commission and the nation as to the ever-growing list of transactions, contracts and business dealings between his family and Bosasa. What we do know is that:
- Cyril Ramaphosa received a R500 000 “donation” from Bosasa CEO, Gavin Watson, towards his campaign to be elected ANC President;
- Andile Ramaphosa had a contractual agreement with Bosasa for “advisory services”, which he earned over R2 million in a little over a year.
- That President Ramaphosa told Parliament he had seen that contract, and it was all above board.
- Andile Ramaphosa’s business partner, a Chinese energy company, attempted to secure a R400 million kickback from an Eskom loan in January last year – at a time when his father Cyril Ramaphosa was heading up State-Owned Entities, and Eskom.
However there remains much we don’t know. And the Zondo Commission is best placed to seek the truth in this matter.
Lastly, I have also requested to view the President’s declaration of interests since his election in February 2018. Section 2.3(d) of the Executive Ethics Code states that members of the Executive may not “Use their position or any information entrusted to them, to enrich themselves or improperly benefit any other person.” (Emphasis added). If the President has failed to disclose any conflict of interest as it relates to his son, then the Public Protector must investigate whether he has breached the Executive Ethics Act.
We cannot ignore the fact that Bosasa is a company that has been bribing ANC politicians for the last two decades. Bosasa contracts with the ANC government total over R10 billion. Like Zuma-Gupta, the Ramaphosa-Bosasa relationship follows the standard ANC triangle of corruption: the ANC-in-government gives lucrative tenders to connected cronies who bribe officials, which in return funds the ANC.
The truth is there has been no change in the ANC since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as President. In fact, former President Kgalema Motlanthe said it all: the ANC is in worse shape now under Cyril Ramaphosa than it was before.
Their remains a circle of secrecy between the Ramaphosa’s, ANC and Bosasa. It is crucial this secrecy is broken and South Africa is told the full truth about this corruption scandal involving the President.