Ramaphosa needs to come clean

It has been a week marked by political posturing, robust legal debates and court challenges, with all arrows trained at Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

The job of a public protector – as seen with Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela – has never been easy: complaints likely to implicate powerful individuals in wrongdoing.

Looking at her string of bungles – the latest the disputed finding on the SA Reserve Bank and Absa for which she has been slapped by the Constitutional Court with a huge personal cost order for “being untruthful” – the embattled Mkhwebane finds herself besieged by sharks baying for her blood.

The opposition, from the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the ruling ANC – except for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – have intensified the campaign to push for her firing.

Having failed emerging black farmers in the Gupta-linked Estina dairy project in Vrede by coming up with a whitewash report that doesn’t finger senior politicians Ace Magashule and Mosebenzi Zwane in the venture that has cost the taxpayer millions, Mkhwebane has been seen as having “enabled state capture”.

But her record should not lead us to deviate from what is at stake: President Cyril Ramaphosa has misled parliament in his reply to a question posed to him by DA leader Mmusi Maimane – something bordering on a violation of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests.

Here is a blow-by-blow:

Maimane: “Mr President, here I hold proof of payment that was transferred to a trust account called EFGR on October 18 2017. This was allegedly put for your son, Andile Ramaphosa.

“Following on that, I have a sworn affidavit from Mr Peet Venter, stating he was asked by the chief executive officer of Bosasa to make this transfer for Andile Ramaphosa.

“I would like to ask you …to please set the record straight on this matter.”

Ramaphosa: “This matter was brought to my attention some time ago. I proceeded to ask my son what this was all about.

“He runs a financial consultancy business and consults for a number of companies, and one of those companies is Bosasa where he provides services on entrepreneurship, particularly on the procurement process.

“Regarding this payment, I can assure you, Mr Maimane, that I asked him at close range whether this was money obtained illegally or unlawfully and he said this was a service that was provided. He actually even showed me a contract that he signed with Bosasa.

“The contract also deals with issues of integrity of anti-corruption.

“On this one, I have made sure that I get as much information as I can.”

In a subsequent letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly on November 14, 2018, Ramaphosa sought to correct information he had earlier provided in the National Assembly, putting him in breach of the Executive Ethics Code.

As deputy president and a member of parliament at the time, there is no escaping for Ramaphosa to fully account for his actions.

In his rebuttal, Ramaphosa has asserted that Mkhwebane was wrong, threatening to take matters up in a court of law.

In a constitutional democracy like South Africa, it is within his rights to do so.

But whatever course of action he takes, he has to own up and take full responsibility for having misled parliament.

Brian Sokutu.

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