Who paid Ramaphosa to buy ANC presidency? – EFF’s Shivambu

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu says South Africans have a right to know who funded Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign and whether his donors are benefiting from state contracts.

The EFF will head to court next month in a bid to unseal the financial records of Ramaphosa’s presidential campaign.

“We are going to court to officially release those documents so that we can know who has funded Cyril Ramaphosa to buy the ANC conference and the presidency of the ANC so that he can buy the presidency of the country. And what is the relationship of those people that funded Cyril Ramaphosa with current state procurement?” Shivambu said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday evening.

ALSO READ: Not within my power to make CR17 bank statements public – Ramaphosa

The financial records of Ramaphosa’s internal ANC presidential campaign have been the subject of much public debate and legal action since the release of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report in 2019, which found prima facie evidence of money laundering.

The report was later set aside by the Pretoria high court in March 2020 and the Constitutional Court has reserved its judgment on the matter after an appeal by Mkhwebane.

Earlier this week, EFF leader Julius Malema said the party’s application to unseal the CR17 bank statements had been set down from 16 to 17 March 2021 in the Pretoria high court. The court ruled in August 2019 to seal the documents after Ramaphosa argued they were illegally obtained.

Shivambu said the Red Berets don’t want a president who hides information from the public.

“Are the people who are manufacturing vaccines in Port Elizabeth [Johnson & Johnson] part of those that funded him? Are the people who are benefiting from the independent power producers and this renewable energy approach, are they benefiting from this because they funded Ramaphosa?” he said.

“Those are the issues that we want to reveal so that we know what we are dealing with. We do not want a president that is thriving on secrecy and hiding of information while on the other side he is busy giving government tenders and contracts to the friends that bought the ANC conference on his behalf.”

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa’s opponents call for inquiry into CR17 campaign

Shivambu said the EFF did not have access to the CR17 bank statements. He said if they did they would have released them.

“If we did, we were not going to waste time to go to court. We would have released them by now for everyone else to see. But the principle is that a court has taken a decision to officially seal those records, meaning that anyone who gains access to those documents without the approval of the court will be violating the court ruling,” he said.

In November last year, Ramaphosa said the publication of the bank accounts belonging to donors who funded the CR17 campaign was out of his hands. He said the Financial Intelligence Centre had consistently opposed the publication of the documents because donors had not been asked for permission.

The president also said there was no rule in place for the disclosure of donations for internal party leadership contests.

“No evidence of corruption or any other form of improper conduct exists in relation to these documents or to CR17 campaign. There are no rules or regulations in place for the disclosure of donations for internal party leadership contests, nor is there a provision for the disclosure of such information in the executive ethics code,” Ramaphosa said.

[MUST WATCH]: DP @FloydShivambu clarifies that the EFF doesn’t have access to CR17 documents. If we did, we would have released them for everyone to see.

Adding that anyone who gains access to CR17 documents without the approval of a court will be violating the court ruling. pic.twitter.com/3bSrMH6bK8

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) February 24, 2021

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