Cape Town - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed its investigation into the ANC’s election “war rooms” that were established by the controversial Bosasa on behalf of the ruling party.
The commission wrote to the party leader, Mmusi Maimane informing him that the commission will refer his matter to the Directorate of Electoral Offences for investigation.
“We can confirm today that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has agreed to investigate the ANC’s Bosasa-funded election ‘war rooms’, following the DA’s complaint lodged late last month. We trust the IEC will investigate without fear or favour, and await the outcome of such investigation,” said Maimane.
The DA has already asked the Public Protector to probe a contribution of R500 000 to President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2017 campaign for the leadership of the ANC.
Ramaphosa initially told Parliament the payment was made to his son in relation to a service contract and was above board.
But days later, he formally corrected the statement, saying it had in fact been funding for his leadership campaign and he had been unaware of it.
Maimane said the allegation that Bosasa set up ANC election "war rooms" at a Krugersdorp HQ over the past three elections to the tune of R6 million, constitutes conduct that is in contravention of Section 9(e) of the Electoral Code of Conduct.
“The fact is this R6 million benefit the ANC received from Bosasa is dirty money. It is high time that the ANC pays back every cent of the money it has received from Bosasa,” said Maimane.
The complaint by the DA follows explosive revelations before the Zondo commission detailing how the company spent almost R6 million a month paying bribes.
Former Bosasa Chief Operations Officer, Angelo Agrizzi gave evidence before the commission of inquiry, where he played a video which showed the company’s chief financial officer removing a stash of money from one of the vaults and taking it to the company’s CEO Gavin Watson’s office to be distributed.
The commission heard that employees were given bribes to keep quiet about the rampant corruption at Bosasa, and those who protested were “terminated”.
Bosasa, which has been renamed African Global Operations, has been the beneficiary of multi-billion-rand contracts with the state and has been implicated in widespread allegations of corruption.
In September, it emerged that senior ANC MP Vincent Smith had been paid ‘‘at least” R670 000 by Bosasa over the past three years and had allegedly accepted security installations at his home valued at R200 000.