‘CR17 was run as a clean campaign’
JOHANNESBURG President Cyril Ramaphosa's rise to high office was paved on a "clean campaign," says the Presidency, noting that the leaking of confidential banking information of funders is a breach of privacy. "The selective circulation of this banking information is clearly intended to cast aspersions on the President, and follows the recent report of the Public Protector, in which there was a substantial focus on the funding of the CR17 campaign," said spokesperson Khusela Diko in a statement. "It is a common and accepted practice in South Africa and across the world for parties and candidates to raise funding from donors for campaigns. “From the outset, the CR17 campaign team and the candidate agreed that this should be a clean campaign that operated within the necessary legal prescripts and in line with the values and principles of their organisation," said Diko. "Funds were raised from a broad cross-section of South African society, sometimes with the help of supportive individuals who had access to various networks. More than a hundred individuals made contributions to the campaign according to their means. The donations were She said the information leaked to the media, supposedly held only by the Office of the Public Protector, includes bank statements of third parties, which record private transactions and which are strictly confidential. She maintained that neither the President nor the campaign has done anything wrong, ethically or legally. Meanwhile, Mkhwebane's office maintains that her report is above board.