Ramaphosa abused his position in speech before polls, DA tells electoral court

When President Cyril Ramaphosa gave a speech on the eve of the 2024 national elections, he was not on “an even playing field” with other party leaders and he unlawfully used the power of the presidential office for “a political campaign”, rather than for an address by SA’s president.

This was the argument by the DA, which challenged Ramaphosa in the electoral court in Johannesburg on Thursday, seeking a R200,000 fine and court declaration that he violated election laws.

In a May address on the Sunday before the 2024 elections, Ramaphosa spoke about “the country’s readiness for the forthcoming elections” and about “the path we have travelled together”. Ramaphosa encouraged South Africans to vote and outlined “challenges” SA had faced, noting, for example, how “as a nation, we brought state capture to an end”.

In court papers, DA federal council chair Helen Zille said Ramaphosa’s address was mostly “appropriate ... but veers off presidential terrain to naked campaigning”. The address “was solely to solicit votes for the ANC”. Zille said this violated electoral laws and Ramaphosa should be fined R200,000.

Ramaphosa said in his answering papers: “My address sought to highlight achievements and challenges that are relevant to all citizens, regardless of their political affiliations. By focusing on governmental and institutional successes, I maintained a neutral stance.”

The DA denied this, arguing his address was in fact a campaign speech “under the guise” of a presidential address.

Anthony Stein, for the DA, told the electoral court that when Ramaphosa listed various “challenges”, he was not touching on neutral topics. For example, Ramaphosa spoke about ending state capture and overcoming Covid-19.

“These are highly contested political concepts,” Stein said. Political parties were campaigning on these topics. “No other political party would be allowed to trumpet its accomplishments [on the national broadcaster, SABC].”

New restrictions

The DA said once the election was announced, new restrictions applied to Ramaphosa and every other political leader. Public funds are not allowed to be used for elections but the DA said that was precisely what Ramaphosa did by using the presidential platform on the national broadcaster.

Electoral judge Seena Yacoob said Ramaphosa didn’t mention the ANC and appeared to be talking about achievements from “South Africans”. Stein disagreed, arguing Ramaphosa’s speech was “abusing his position of presidency”.

But Ramaphosa’s advocate, Ngwako Maenetje, argued the DA “misconstrued the speech ... giving it a cynical interpretation”.

“One needs to have a very suspicious mind” to view the address as the DA did, Maenetje said. “The ordinary listener ... is one that doesn’t have a suspicious mind.”     

Maenetje acknowledged that taking individual sentences from Ramaphosa’s speech could be construed as political campaigning. But interpretation needed to be considered “holistically”.

Maenetje argued election law “is not aimed at prohibiting incidental consequences” but actual “abuse” of power — which, Maenetje said, was not proved by the DA.

Ramaphosa did not mention the ANC’s successes and was only playing his role as “the pathfinder [who] must steer us to a better future”, Maenetje said.

The court, chaired by judge Dumisani Zondi, reserved judgment.

moosat@businesslive.co.za