President Cyril Ramaphosa confirms Tito Mboweni as the new Finance Minister in Cape Town, 09/10/2018 – Photo: Kopano Tlape / GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa confirms Tito Mboweni as the new Finance Minister in Cape Town, 09/10/2018 – Photo: Kopano Tlape / GCIS
Cyril Ramaphosa has often talked tough on rooting out corruption in government. But he’s also been under the microscope for certain “illicit” payments received for his CR17 campaign. In fact, the 66-year-old has been accused of money laundering to secure the top job.
Cyril Ramaphosa money laundering claims
The president has long been accused of financial misdeeds by his political opponents, despite being exonerated by a forensic investigator. Both Cyril and his son Andile Ramaphosa are believed to have received money from Bosasa, the corrupt bribery-driven empire that had their secrets aired at the state capture inquiry earlier this year.
A Sunday Times report from this weekend claimed that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was investigating Ramaphosa for alleged money-laundering of donations of more than R400m to his presidential face-off with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. This, however, has been hotly contested by the campaign manager of CR17.
CR17 team blast “bizarre” accusations
Bejani Chauke, who has also acted as an advisor to the president, issued a statement on Sunday evening. He blasted some of the claims made against Ramaphosa and his team as both “baseless” and “bizarre”. Chauke insists that all payments received for his successful campaign were above board.
“These funds were paid into accounts established for this purpose and were used to cover the costs of the campaign, such as stipends, travelling, communications and promotional material, meeting venues and accommodation.”
“In the process, all legal and regulatory requirements were met. As the former campaign managers of CR17, we have been assisting the public protector in her investigation and have been available to explain the nature of the campaign’s operations and funding.”
Bejani Chauke
Cyril Ramaphosa vs Busisiwe Mkhwebane
Cyril Ramaphosa is currently being investigated by Busisiwe Mkhwebane for those Bosasa donations. The DA brought the case to the public protector’s office, and it’s causing an almighty uproar within the ANC.
On Friday, the presidency confirmed Cyril Ramaphosa has been granted an extension in his reply to Mkhwebane’s preliminary Bosasa investigation. If found guilty, misleading Parliament would be a breach of the house’s Executive Ethics Code – and that could seriously undermine Cyril’s position as president.
