You South Africa – 08 August 2019

you.co.za8 AUGUST (^2019) | 19
YOU NEWS
Thepublicprotectorappearstobe
“politicallyselectivewiththecasesshe
hasinvestigated,”politicalanalystDaniel
Silkesays.
“Theproblemisthatseemingly[she]wants
toinvestigatemattersthatwouldharm
PresidentCyrilRamaphosa.”
Andwhiletherehavebeeninvestigations
intopublicenterprisesministerPravin
GordhanandRamaphosa’sactivities,“there
hasnotbeenthesamerigorousquestioning
appliedtothosewhomaybeimplicatedin
statecapture”,headds.
“Thistypeofapparentlyone-sided
selectionofcasesisclearlycausingmany
SouthAfricanstofeelshe’sservingthe
interestofoneorotherfactionwithinthe
ANC.”
Thereseemstobea bodyofevidence
buildingupagainsther,headds.“I wouldsay
thefinalstrawwillbeonissuesrelatingto
Gordhanandthepresident.”S
GALLO
IMAGES/NETWERK24/FELIX
DLANGAMANDLA,
GALLO
IMAGES/BUSINESS
DAY/FREDDY
MAVUNDA,
GCIS
The DA and the EFF teamed uptoclaimthe
president deliberately misled parliament about
a R500 000 donation to his ANC presidential
election campaign in 2017 from controversial
Bosasa boss Gavin Watson.
Ramaphosa at first said it had been deposit-
ed into the account of a foundation run by his
son Andile for services rendered.
The president later retracted this and said
the money had been paid to his campaign with-
out his knowledge.
An officialcomplaintwaslodged by DA
l d MmusiMaimane and
deputy president
oydShivambu.
THEPPFI
Mkhwebane
Ramaphosa
telymisledp
d violatedth
thics code.S
structednational asse
speaker ThandiModisetorefer thep
to the joint committeeonethicsand
interests and to demand the publicat
all donations Ramaphosa receivedfo
campaign.
She instructed the national prosec
authority to investigate “a potentialc
money laundering”.
The president hit back, saying
the report was “fundamentally and
irretrievably flawed”, had “numer-
ousfactualinaccuracies”and
madefindingsonissues outside the mandate
of her office. He’s applying to the high court in
Pretoria to review the report, its findings and
remedial action.
EXPERTS SAY
Whether Mkhwebane was within her rights or
not to probe this issue, she’s raised an issue of
campaign finance that will have to be ad-
dressed, analyst Daniel Silke says.
“And even if the courts rule against her, the
issues regarding who finances political candi-
datesis vital.WhateverthePP’s future, that
issuewill hopefullynowbean important part
ofgreatertransparency.”
Thepublicprotectorisalso
theprocessbehindthe
appointmentofthenewSa
commissioner,Edward
Kieswetter, afterreceiving
anonymouscomplaints.
InMarch,theEFF
saiditwasunhappywith
Kieswetter’sappointment.
Itaccusedformerfinance
ministerTrevorManuel,wh
chairedtheselectionpanel,ofinfluencing
theappointmentbecauseKieswetterhad
previouslyworkedunderhim.Thepartyalso
allegedtheywererelated.Manueldenied
theseclaimsandsuccessfullysuedtheEFF
forR500 000 fordefamation.
ThePublicServantsAssociationofSouth
Africadescribedtheprobeas“hypocritical
anda ploytoderaileffortsbySarstorestore
itscredibilityandregaintaxpayers’confi-
dence”.Theinvestigationisongoing.
EXPERTSSAY
PoliticalanalystRalphMathekgaquestions
whythecomplainantswanttobeanony-
mous.“IsitbecausetheEFFdoesn’twant
tobeknownasa complainantbecauseit’s
a complainantinthecaseinvolvingthe
rogueunit?”
Mkhwebane’srefusaltonamethecom-
plainantsmightalsoindicateshe’s“con-
cernedabouttheviewthatsheappearstoo
enthusiastictoentertaincomplaintsfrom
thelikesoftheEFF”.
In2017,Mkhwebanefoundthestate’sspecial
investigatingunitneededtorecoupan“illegal”
R1,125-billion“lifeboat”givenbytheReserve
BanktoAbsa’spredecessor,Bankorp,during
apartheid.
Thisrecommendationwassetasidebythe
highcourtinPretoriain 2018 afteranappeal
bytheReserveBank.Mkhwebanewasordered
topersonallypay15%ofthecostsofthe
ReserveBank’sappeal– someR900000.
Mkhwebaneturnedtotheconstitutional
courttosetasidethatjudgment– whichalso
foundshewasbiasedanddidn’tfullyunder-
standherconstitutionaldutytobeimpartial.
TheReserveBankinturnaskedthecourtto
declarethatthepublicprotectorabusedher
officeintheAbsainvestigation.
Theconstitutionalcourtlastmonthupheld
thehighcourtrulingandMkhwebaneremains
liabletopaythecosts.
EXPERTSSAY
ConstitutionallawexpertProfessorPierrede
VosfindsitshockingthatMkhwebanedidn’t
resignafterthisruling.
“Thecourtshavefoundshe’sdishonest,that
she’sincompetent,hasactedinbadfaithand
thatshe’snotimpartial.
“I don’tknowhowyoucancrediblygoonif
thehighestcourtinthecountrysaysyou’renot
onlyincapableofdoingyourjob,butyou’realso
dishonest.”
PP vs THE PRESIDENT PP VS EDWARDKIESWETTER
oprobing
ars
g
ho
l fifl i
‘Thecourtshavefoundshe’sdishonest,
thatshe’sincompetent,hasactedinbadfaith
andthatshe’snotimpartial’
PPvsTHERESERVEBANK
leaderMm
EFFd
Flo
TT
M
R
at
and
tiveet
t td
POLITICALLY SELECTIVE?
EXTRA SOURCES: TIMESLIVE, BDLIVE, SOWETANLIVE, DAILYMAVERICK.CO.ZA, CITIZEN.CO.ZA, NYTIMES.COM, BBC.COM, NEWS24.COM
INDING
efound
deliber-
parliament
heexecu-
Shein-
mbly
president
members’
tionof
or his
cuting
case of
g p y
PresidentCyril
Ramaphosahas
launcheda court
bidagainstthe
publicprotector
aftershefound
he’dmisledpar-
liament.