Ramaphosa will submit to integrity commission on CR17 funding
● Amid the bitter political battle for control of the ANC, President Cyril Ramaphosa this weekend said he will present himself before the party’s integrity commission to answer questions relating to the funding of his 2017 campaign to become party president.
Ramaphosa made the undertaking on Friday in his opening address at a heated ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting that is to decide on his call for party leaders facing corruption charges to step away from their public and party positions “with immediate effect”.
Party insiders who attended the meeting say that despite pushback by his detractors, Ramaphosa was firm in demanding that leaders facing corruption charges be forced to take leave from office.
Before the NEC meeting, Ramaphosa was subjected to what appears to be a well-orchestrated onslaught on his leadership, which intensified on Friday with a scathing letter from former president Jacob Zuma — and a call from NEC member Tony Yengeni for him to resign. The attacks were seen as an attempt to weaken Ramaphosa ahead of the crucial NEC meeting, where he was expected to issue a directive to ANC leaders about how to root out corruption.
An insider said Ramaphosa did not mince his words about protecting the image of the ANC from allegations of corruption when he opened the meeting on Friday.
“He said the structures must stop appointing leaders with criminal conduct. He said the ANC must appeal to the political conscience of those leaders not to avail themselves, and those already in that position to step aside with immediate effect.”
This means home affairs portfolio committee chair Bongani Bongo and KwaZuluNatal MPL and former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede will have to take leave from their positions. Gumede and KwaZulu-Natal ANC deputy chair Mike Mabuyakhulu were on Friday instructed to step aside pending
If you are saying the president must step aside, you are plunging the ANC into crisis
Gwede Mantashe
resolution of their court cases.
Insiders said Ramaphosa spoke frankly about how allegations of corruption had divided the party. “He said there were counterallegations of corruption that comrades have thrown at each other. He spoke of deep-seated factionalism that characterised these discussions. The president said the people are correct to distrust our commitment to fight corruption because we have failed to act against our own. He said our actions must match our words,” one insider said.
The president is also said to have attempted to disarm his opponents by announcing that he would appear before the integrity commission soon to explain the funding of his CR17 campaign ahead of the Nasrec conference.
The CR17 funding was expected to be a hot potato at the meeting as his detractors were expected to echo Yengeni’s call for Ramaphosa to step aside as his case against the public protector was still before court. Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane had found that about R400m donated to Ramaphosa’s campaign raised suspicions of money laundering.
The Pretoria high court ruled in March that Mkhwebane had no jurisdiction to investigate the funds and set aside her report. She has approached the Constitutional Court to appeal against the judgment.
“He [Ramaphosa] said the challenge with political funding was that there were no guidelines, and reminded the NEC that a process was still ongoing to finalise such guidelines,” said an insider. Ramaphosa had sought to set the tone for the meeting by writing a letter to ANC members last Sunday decrying corruption in the party and issuing a plea that the ANC take action against those accused of corruption. This prompted Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa to write to the ANC top six asking them to refer Ramaphosa to the integrity commission to account for CR17 funding.
On Friday, Zuma issued his own letter, claiming Ramaphosa had tarred the entire ANC membership with the same brush when he admitted to the scourge of corruption within the party’s ranks. Zuma labelled Ramaphosa’s letter “flawed” and said it played into the hands of those who want to form a new party “under the guise of fighting corruption”. He said Ramaphosa was doing so to save his own skin as he was facing allegations of using money to win the Nasrec conference.
Yengeni then took the fight to the national working committee (NWC) meeting, which preceded the NEC gathering, where he said Ramaphosa must lead by example by being the first to resign, as his case against the public protector was still before court.
“What Tony was saying is that the issue of stepping aside should start with you as the president … You are in court,” said a leader who asked not to be named.
He also accused Ramaphosa of bringing the ANC into disrepute by describing the party as accused no 1.
“Once you say that, you are putting the ANC into disaster. That is the narrative of the DA and other opposition parties. As ANC president, you can’t align yourself with that,” said the leader. “So, you must lead by example and step aside. Emulate Zuma, who stepped aside when he was accused in 2005, before the NGC [national general council] brought him back.”
Ramaphosa is said to have responded that it would be a “relief” for him to resign. It is not known whether he was joking.
Insiders say Ramaphosa was defended at the NWC meeting by national chair Gwede Mantashe. “Mantashe is the only one who defended Ramaphosa in the NWC,” said an NWC member. “He said if you are saying the president must step aside, you are plunging the ANC into crisis. The NWC people in the main are CR’s people, but with the exception of Mantashe, they kept quiet and did not defend him.,”
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule is said to have come under fire for saying in an interview: “Tell me of one ANC leader who has not done business with government.”
The NWC member said: “Naledi [Pandor] was asking if she would be permitted to go to the media and tell journalists that she doesn’t do business with the state. We fought in that meeting. We were supposed to start the NEC meeting at 2pm, but it started at 3pm because we were fighting in the NWC.”
Ramaphosa’s opponents were expected to ask why the president’s backers had not been asked to step down. They were expected to mention deputy defence minister Thabang Makwetla and minister of small business development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. Makwetla was found guilty by a parliamentary committee for failing to declare gifts from Bosasa. Ramaphosa’s detractors were expected to claim a court judgment implicated Ntshavheni in tender irregularities while she was a municipal manager in Limpopo.