News24.com | Public Protector must release \'Ramaphosa report\' within 48 hours - Mmusi Maimane

Public Protector must release 'Ramaphosa report' within 48 hours - Mmusi Maimane

2019-06-10 14:40
DA leader Mmusi Maimane (File, Gallo Images)

DA leader Mmusi Maimane (File, Gallo Images)

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The Democratic Alliance has demanded that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane release the full report she has compiled into the campaign donation made by Bosasa to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Monday that he had written to Mkhwebane to demand she release the "full, unredacted" report on relations between Ramaphosa and controversial facilities company Bosasa (now known as African Global Operations) within 48 hours.

This after a report in the Sunday Independent said Mkhwebane's "preliminary report" had found Ramaphosa guilty of "inadvertently misleading Parliament" and that he had failed to declare a R500 000 donation from Bosasa boss Gavin Watson to his ANC presidential campaign in 2017.

Maimane said that, according to the Executive Members' Ethics Act, "the Public Protector must investigate a complaint on an alleged breach of the code of ethics by a member of the National Assembly and submit a report within 30 days of receipt of the complaint".

He added that Mkhwebane's report was almost six months overdue, "leaving her with no choice but to act immediately and release the report in the interest of the public".

"The immediate release of this report will leave no room for further leaks and speculation and allow the public and Parliament to hold President Ramaphosa to account for his actions," said Maimane.

The party would consider legal action if she did not comply with the request, he said.

R500 000 payment

Maimane submitted the original complaint against Ramaphosa in November last year.

The DA's complaint arose after Ramaphosa initially told the National Assembly that his son Andile had received money from Bosasa for services rendered in terms of a consultancy contract.

The president said the R500 000 payment in question was actually a donation that had been made to his ANC presidential campaign, of which he had previously been unaware.

Bosasa has received billions of rands in government contracts over the past decade and has been implicated in alleged corruption during the commission of inquiry into state capture.

Its alleged dubious financial transactions were laid bare before the commission, where former chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi testified that the company paid bribes to many high-ranking public officials.

Mkhwebane's spokesperson Oupa Segalwe on Sunday said that she "and her office will not comment on the contents of any news report or leaked document that purports to be hers as that could potentially jeopardise her investigations and prejudice the subjects of the probes".