Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly told Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that he does not have any direct or specific information on the alleged misuse of public funds for the ANC’s internal party political purposes.
This followed a complaint by suspended ANC MP Mervyn Dirks, who called on Ramaphosa to account for a leaked recording of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, in which he could be heard admitting that the ANC used public funds for party purposes, and implied that the funds came from the State Security Agency (SSA).
Dirks wrote a letter to the Scopa last year, bringing the contents of the audio to its attention.
ALSO READ | Leaked audio: Cyril Ramaphosa ‘needs to confirm what he knows about that clip’, says UDM leader Holomisa
According to The Citizen, ANC’s head of the presidency Sibongile Beni confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio but denied suggestions that Ramaphosa was attempting to shield party members by covering up information on corruption.
Two weeks ago, Scopa asked Ramaphosa to explain the comments he made, which were also the subject of a probe by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
IOL reported that on Friday, Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa confirmed receipt, within the stipulated 10 working days, of a written response from Ramaphosa on the allegations.
A statement issued on Hlengwa’s behalf read: “Having studied the contents of the letter from the president, Hlengwa has referred it to the parliamentary legal services to give guidance on certain aspects of the president’s response. The committee programme has been adjusted accordingly and the president’s response, along with the legal advice, will be tabled before the committee at a committee meeting on Wednesday.”
ALSO READ | Leaked audio: ‘You can’t suspend Mervyn Dirks… he’s doing the right thing,’ Magashule tells ANC
Times Live said it had seen a letter dated February 9 and addressed to Hlengwa, in which Ramaphosa claimed he had relied on information already in the public domain and based his comments on evidence and testimony led before the state capture commission
“I do not have any information in my possession that could assist the committee (Scopa) in this respect,” the report quoted Ramaphosa as saying.
Ramaphosa confirmed having made the statements at a meeting of the ANC’s NEC held between March 26 and 28 last year.
“In this statement, made during the day on March 27 2021, I made reference to misuse of public funds in internal elections for leadership positions in the ANC,” he said.
Ramaphosa maintained that it was important to take into account the full context of what was said at the NEC meeting.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@PresidencyZA
For more African news visit, Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
