Durban – African Transformation Movement national executive committee member Mzwanele Manyi has challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa to lead by example in fighting corruption by first revealing what is contained in his sealed bank statements.
The bank statements were sealed by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in March following Ramaphosa's successful application, which stated that this was to protect the identity of businesses and individuals who were believed to have sponsored his 2017 ANC presidential campaign.
The EFF two weeks ago filed its own papers calling for the statements to be unsealed and be made public.
Talking to Independent Media on Tuesday, Manyi called on Ramaphosa, who issued a letter to ANC members at the weekend, to lead by example.
“If you are going to issue a seven-page letter trying to be Mr Clean, you must first demonstrate cleanliness,” he said.
At the weekend, Ramaphosa had written to ANC members revealing the ANC NEC had committed itself in the fight against corruption. Ramaphosa had also posted the letter into his Twitter account.
“As the head of the organisation, he (Ramaphosa) must say ‘comrades we want to be clean, and want to clean the organisation, I am going to start with myself. All those sealed statements, I am going to have them unsealed because there is no corruption in those statements’,” said Manyi.
Manyi said merely donating money did not mean corruption.
“But if you are going to give someone money and tomorrow there is a tangible benefit, then that puts questions as to whether it was an honest donation or it was a prepaid arrangement.
“If the donors’ action was above board and legal, why is there a secret?” he said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Tyrone Seale, said the matter should be directed to Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters.
“I don’t speak on party political matters or on the matter of unsealing of bank accounts. The president did indicate that we will oppose this application, and in that application we will deal with the issue of the bank account,” said Seale.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said he would not respond to Manyi’s statement because Manyi was no longer an ANC member.
“The letter was written to the members of the ANC,” said Mabe.
Political Bureau