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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Meets Public Protector To Discuss Bosasa’s R500,000 Donation
Ramaphosa previously said the donation was made to his 2017 ANC presidential campaign
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly met with Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in Pretoria on Tuesday to discuss regarding a controversial R500,000 donation that Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, made to his 2017 African National Congress (ANC) presidential campaign.
Ramaphosa initially told the parliament last year that the money was channeled through his son Andile’s company for services rendered in terms of a consultancy contract. consulting services. But he later backtracked and noted in a letter sent to National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete that the donation went towards a trust fund set up for his 2017 election campaign about which he was previously unaware of.
The inquiry into Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson’s R500,000 donation to Ramaphosa has begun after Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane called out for an investigation into whether the president violated the executive ethics code. Maimane claimed that Bosasa had been paying bribes to the ANC to secure government tenders for almost two decades.
While it currently remains unclear as to what Ramaphosa and Mkhwebane discussed in the Tuesday meeting, the spokesperson for the Presidency, Khusela Diko said the President would have only repeated what he had already stated in the past, reported Eye Witness News.
“He answered based on the information that he had at that time,” Diko said adding, “When he realized his error he was the one who took the initiative and corrected it.”
Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters has threatened to turn State of the Nation Address (Sona) into a question and answer session for Ramaphosa if he does not clarify his role in the Bosasa scandal.
Bosasa has been in the limelight since last few days after its former chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi testified before the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture that the company paid bribes to many high-ranking public officials to billions of rands in government contracts over the past decade.
