The African National Congress (ANC) has thrown its weight behind President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying the leaked emails about his alleged involvement in the CR17 fundraising campaign is a calculated move to detract the party from dealing with issues affecting the country.
Several emails were published this weekend, revealing the names of people approached for funding.
In a statement released, on Tuesday, the ANC says it has noted with concern the emails “purported to be giving details on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign for leadership at its 54th National Conference.”
The emails which surfaced over the weekend through the media raised questions on how much President Ramaphosa really knew about donations to his party presidential campaign leading up to party’s elective congress at Nasrec in 2017.
Ramaphosa had previously claimed not to have been privy to information on how much was raised for his campaign as well as who donated.
The party says the leaked emails seek to distract the party from more important issues.
“The ANC has however noted the public interest and other issues that have arisen relating to the funding of internal campaigns towards the 54th National Conference held at Nasrec, Johannesburg in December 2017,” reads the statement in part.
BOSASA donation
Last month, the Public Protector found that the President violated the executive ethics code by misleading parliament on the R500 000 BOSASA donation.
In her report, Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she had evidence that Ramaphosa was involved in fundraising.
The leaked e-mails reveal that the President was consulted by his campaign managers about plans to approach donors; and that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was central in raising funds.
On Monday the Presidency reiterated that the President was not involved in the fundraising campaign. The Presidency questioned whether or not the leaked emails were published legally.
Presidential spokesperson, Khusela Diko says the President was not involved in soliciting money from potential donors for his ANC presidential campaign in 2017.
Diko says instead the president has donated his personal money into the campaign.
The ANC says it’s not aware of any illegality regarding the campaigns of any of its leaders.
“In this regard, the ANC welcomes actions taken by President Ramaphosa who has acted openly and transparently by providing a detailed account to the Public Protector on these matters. The ANC is not aware of any acts of illegality on the part of a campaign conducted by any leader of the ANC, including President Ramaphosa.”
BLF calls for Ramaphosa’s suspension
Black First Land First (BLF) has called on the ANC to immediately suspend Cyril Ramaphosa as its president and remove him as Head of State.
The BLF’s call refers to the publication by News 24 of several emails and the names of people who were approached for funding by Ramaphosa’s CR17 campaign managers.
The publication says the emails have been verified.
The BLF says the leaked emails show that Ramaphosa is compromised, conflicted, and corrupt.
The BLF says Ramaphosa claims to be fighting corruption, whilst being the most corrupt.
