Durban - If President Cyril Ramaphosa was to be seen as above board in the fight against corruption, he must unseal the CR17 documents and reveal the financial records regarding donations received by his campaign, the EFF has argued in its application to the North Gauteng High Court.
The EFF this week filed papers seeking an order that would allow Ramaphosa’s bank statements, which were linked to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s investigation into the CR17 campaign, to be unsealed.
EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini, in his affidavit, argued that Ramaphosa’s financial details should be unsealed because the secret private funding emboldens corruption in the political and governance space.
“Secrecy enables corruption and conduces more to a disposition by politicians that is favourable towards those who funded them privately once elected into public office,” Dlamini said.
The EFF has listed Ramaphosa and the Financial Intelligence Centre as being among eight respondents.
Dlamini further argued in the application that the Constitution had fundamental values of openness, responsiveness and accountability and that access to funding information would help the public, including members of opposition parties to speak openly against corruption, which he said was a grave concern.
“The sealing of the records in question is inimical to that ideal,” Dlamini said, adding that he was expecting Ramaphosa’s lawyers to file responding papers within 14 days.
Acting spokesperson Tyrone Seale said Ramaphosa had instructed his lawyers, Harris Nupen Molebatsi, to oppose the EFF’s application “and will file papers in due course”.