Ekhurhuleni mayor denies accusing Ramaphosa of ‘money laundering and tax avoidance’

Ekhurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina took to Twitter on Saturday night, seemingly expressing the view that South Africa under the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa is a “looting period” and a disgrace to the legacy of struggle icon Oliver Tambo.

He says reading the “bank statements” which have leaked from Ramaphosa’s successful CR17 campaign for the ANC presidency has led him to this conclusion.

Masina wants the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to step in over what he claims is “money laundering and tax avoidance” surrounding the campaign.

Questions sent to Masina via email had not been answered at the time of publication, but he has since taken to Twitter to clarify that his call for Sars and the NPA to take action was directed at the “beneficiaries” rather than the president.

Having read the Bank Statements legally or illegally I can onlu come one conclusion “Atshile amaqabame kaTambo” during this looting period. Now the big question is where is SARS and NPA for money money laundering and tax avoidance.

— Mzwandile Masina (@mzwandileMasina) August 17, 2019

Masina is considered a loyalist to former President Jacob Zuma, and was one of those who attended the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture in support of the former president when he gave testimony in July.

It was reported on News24 that Masina vowed to resign as the regional chairperson and mayor of Ekurhuleni should the majority of branches in his region nominate Ramaphosa instead of his preferred presidential candidate, former AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

He later denied having said this, saying that while he does not support Ramaphosa he would “serve the ANC” in the event of a Ramaphosa victory, which he then did after this came to pass.

Masina has been accused of involvement in corruption, including being implicated in a R1.9 billion chemical toilets tender scandal. He has denied there was any corruption involved and said he can account for all the chemical toilets his municipality was supposed to purchase.

READ MORE: Leaked emails raise ‘serious’ questions about Ramaphosa’s donors

Leaked emails from the CR17 campaign were first mentioned by News24 in a story which included names of potential donors, appeared to show the involvement of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in the campaign, and seemed to show that Ramaphosa’s claim that he was not involved in the running of the campaign or aware of its donors was at least partially untrue.

Then, in a Sunday Independent article titled “How the CR17 campaign funds were channelled”, it was reported that the publication had seen the campaign’s bank records, as well as emails and financial statements which identified the beneficiaries of the “R1 billion” campaign fund, who according to the story were “politicians, campaign managers, and strategists” who “earned millions for their roles in Ramaphosa’s” successful CR17 campaign for the ANC presidency.

READ MORE: Why Mkhwebane’s ‘rogue unit’ report is deeply flawed

The report alleged that some of Ramaphosa’s main funders were numerous wealthy businesspeople, including mining magnate Nicky Oppenheimer, who reportedly gave R10 million; Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman, who gave R1 million; and eNCA founder, director and owner of Hosken Consolidated Investments Johnny Copelyn, who donated an alleged R2 million on behalf of the news channel. Former Absa CEO Maria Ramos was another alleged donor.

The article was co-written by a trio that included Piet Rampedi and Mzilikazi wa Afrika – two of the journalists behind now-discredited Sunday Times reports on the so-called Sars “rogue unit”. They both parted ways with the Sunday Times after these reports were retracted and apologised for when the media ombudsman found them to be “inaccurate, misleading, and unfair”.

UPDATE: In a tweet, Masina said he would take legal action if The Citizen does not retract its previous headline on this story, “Ekhurhuleni mayor accuses Ramaphosa of ‘money laundering and tax avoidance'”. Masina clarified that he was not referring to Ramaphosa but instead was calling for action to be taken against the “beneficiaries”. We regret the misunderstanding.  

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