Maimane surprises Ramaphosa with ANC letter thanking Bosasa for R3m donation

At a question-and-answer session in parliament on Thursday, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane revealed a letter which appears to show then ANC secretary-general Zweli Mkhize thanking Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson for a donation of R3 million.

In response, the president said he needed to “reflect on the letter”.

“One of the observations that were made by the public protector against me was that when Honorable Maimane played the same sort of gimmick, the public protector said: ‘Mr President, when that was done to you, you should have asked for a copy and say you’ll deal with it later,'” Ramaphosa said, in reference to an ongoing legal battle he’s now involved in with Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

“I want to say to Mr Maimane, please give me that letter so that I can reflect on it,” he added.

Ramaphosa was referring to Mkhwebane’s finding in a report that he had deliberately misled parliament when he was confronted by Maimane on a donation made to his son Andile of R500,000 from Gavin Watson, the CEO of hugely controversial facilities company African Global Operations, formerly known as Bosasa.

This, according to Mkhwebane, constitutes actions which are inconsistent with his office – which at the time was deputy president.

“He deliberately misled parliament, in that he should have allowed himself sufficient time to research on a well-informed response,” she said at a press conference in Pretoria.

In parliament on Thursday, Ramaphosa argued that he needed to do this regarding the R3 million donation.

News24 has reported that Bosasa may have donated tens of millions to the ANC over the years.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.