Johannesburg - The DA remained defiant on Sunday, saying it would not apologise nor retract statements made by its leader Mmusi Maimane about bribery claims in connection with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Spokesperson Solly Malatsi said the DA received earlier on Sunday communication from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) that the ANC has laid a complaint against Maimane.
This was after Maimane made comments regarding ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s Phetogo Rally at Dobsonville on Saturday.
Maimane stated that Ramaphosa “is a man who took bribe money from Bosasa and allowed his son to take their money too.”
“The DA will not apologise, nor will we retract this statement. The fact remains, that Cyril Ramaphosa, received a campaign donation from Bosasa, and after he became President of the Republic, his son, Andile, continued to receive lucrative deals from the corrupt company,” Malatsi said.
“Bosasa is a company which is in the business of bribery, looting and plundering from the state and both Ramaphosa and senior ANC members have been fingered in its web of corruption – the full extent of which has been laid bare at the Zondo commission.
The evidence presented shows that senior leaders in the ANC, benefited personally from the corrupt Bosasa,” he said.
In his complaint to the IEC, ANC secretary general Ace Magashule said the statement made by Maimane Ramaphosa took bribe money from Bosasa and allowed his son to take their money too was in contravention of the Electoral Act.
“This statement is false, has no basis in fact, and as such is in contravention of section 89 (2) of the Electoral Act and section 9 (1)(b)(i) and (ii) of the Electoral Code of Conduct.
“This statement is so manifestly and egregiously false and defamatory that it warrants legal action and we hereby object thereto in terms of the Electoral Act,” Magashule wrote in his complaint.
“We appeal to the Commission to intervene: to prevail upon the leadership of the DA to retract these statements, to desist from repeating them, and to apologise to President Ramaphosa,” Magashule added.
Malatsi said they noted that the ANC complaint against the DA came just after the IEC informed them that it would not investigate their complaint that Bosasa had set up “war rooms” for the ANC in 2011, 2014 and 2016.
“The ANC’s complaint will not silence the DA. We will continue to expose Bosasa’s corruption and Ramaphosa’s role in it,” he said.
“If Ramaphosa truly has nothing to hide, he will come forward, come clean and testify before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture without delay,” Malatsi added.