News24.com | EFF says one of its MPs admitted to receiving money from Ramaphosa campaign

EFF says one of its MPs admitted to receiving money from Ramaphosa campaign

2019-08-18 15:20
EFF MP Tebogo Mokwele laughs after an exchange with FF Plus MP Corné Mulder at a meeting of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee. (Jan Gerber, News24, file)

EFF MP Tebogo Mokwele laughs after an exchange with FF Plus MP Corné Mulder at a meeting of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee. (Jan Gerber, News24, file)

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EFF Member of Parliament (MP) Tebogo Mokwele has claimed she received R40 000 from the much talked about CR17 campaign, the party confirmed in a statement on Sunday.

"She has since confessed to the EFF leadership and indicated that the money related to a personal problem (bereavement) she had, which President Ramaphosa was assisting with," spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement on Sunday.

The CR17 campaign was behind Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to become president of the ANC.  

The EFF further called on other fighters to come out clean and confess if they have received any money from the campaign. 

"Commissar Mokwele's confirmation that she received the money after speaking to President Ramaphosa is a confirmation that Ramaphosa was directly involved in the accounts that were paying money to different recipients in the CR17 campaign.

"The leadership of the EFF will be in discussion as to what course of action to take on Commissar Tebogo Mokwele," said Ndlozi.

City Press  detailed on Sunday how ANC MP Bernice Swarts allegedly received R16m from an account linked to the C17 campaign.

Deputy minister of state security Zizi Kodwa and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula each reportedly received R40 000 on January 3.

Kodwa has denied the allegations, while Mbalula declined to comment to the publication. 

CR17 Campaign

Ramaphosa has been under fire since it emerged that Gavin Watson, the former head of tainted services firm Bosasa (now known as African Global Operations), donated R500 000 to his campaign.

This and other transactions were probed by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's office, which found Ramaphosa had misled Parliament when asked about the donation earlier this year.

She also raised questions about possible money laundering, News24 earlier reported.

ALSO READ: Does transparency override the president's right to privacy?

This was followed by recent reports by News24 and Sunday Independent which delved into a list of prominent business people who allegedly donated money to the campaign.

The newspaper claimed it had determined the identity of the donors from financial statements and the campaign fund's email records.

Last week, following a meeting between Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba and attorneys for Ramaphosa and Mkhwebane it was decided that the records used in the Public Protector's investigation would remain sealed, News24 reported.

Lawyers for Mkhwebane filed the documents with the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday as part of the ongoing review application brought by the president of her report. 

The documents, including bank statements and emails, constitute the evidence Mkhwebane relied on in findings against Ramaphosa, particularly her findings of suspected money laundering and that Ramaphosa deliberately misled Parliament.

In recent weeks, some of this evidence has been leaked to the media.

The remaining documents will now be scrutinised by Ramaphosa's legal team who will have until August 26 to raise objections to other documents being made part of the public record.

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