LETTER: Ramaphosa’s shenanigans laid bare

An inquiry into the fitness of Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold the office of Public Protector is a blessing in disguise. While it presented a platform for her to lay bare the shenanigans of material benefit to President Cyril Ramaphosa, it also checkmated sinister forces who are hell-bent on replacing her with a venal weakling.

Mkhwebane testified that an investigation into a R500,000 donation from Bosasa revealed other money transfers to Ramaphosa amounting to more than R120m, with email correspondence connected therewith. That outed Ramaphosa to have been furtively fundraising for his CR17 campaign, thinking such surreptitious benefits wouldn’t come to light.

Despite this palpable irregularity, Mkhwebane was showered with a hail of abuse for drilling down into the executive ethics code. The Constitutional Court overlooked the central cause of a complaint that Ramaphosa provided parliament with deliberately misleading information. A deficit of independence saw Ramaphosa absolved from a potential conflict of interest.

The court couldn’t care a fig for some “Donald” with a great appetite of donating at least R90m to an individual campaign while poor pupils endure miserable school conditions. Yet there are questions surrounding the unbridled favours of the so-called anonymous donors. The dastardly decision to shield a veiled clique of CR17 benefactors from public scrutiny enabled the shadiest characters to sponsor politicians.

The unprecedented costs orders, intended to bankrupt Mkhwebane into submission, were an act of kowtowing. The subsequent misjudgement that let off Ramaphosa on a technicality smacks of disregard for holding the executive accountable.

Morgan Phaahla

Ekurhuleni

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