Johannesburg - Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Wednesday he had asked the commission probing the capture of state institutions to subpoena President Cyril Ramaphosa to testify ahead of May 8 national elections.
"The revelations emanating from testimony before the Zondo Commission into state capture yesterday confirm that President Ramaphosa and his family are deeply embroiled in a corruption and bribery scandal involving Bosasa," Maimane said in a statement.
He noted that the former auditor of the company previously known as Bosasa had testified under oath that Ramaphosa’s son received cash from the firm and that local media on Wednesday quoted the son as admitting to receiving over R2 million.
"This is in addition to an amount that President Ramaphosa calls a R500 000 donation to his internal ANC (African National Congress) election campaign. What is now clear is that Bosasa and the Ramaphosas are working together in multiple transactions," said Maimane.
"The President must explain to the nation under oath the full extent of the now exposed business relationship between himself, his family, and Bosasa."
Maimane said Bosasa, whose boss is Gavin Watson, had spent 20 years profiting from bribing ANC politicians to capture government contracts worth billions of rands.
"It now appears the Watsons are to the Ramaphosas what the Guptas are to the Zumas," Maimane added, referring to the allegedly corrupt relationship between former President Jacob Zuma and the controversial Gupta family.
"These revelations have shattered the well-peddled myth that corruption in the ANC was simply a feature of Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. A system of corruption that builds a wall between insiders and outsiders is alive and well within the ANC."
The smaller African Democratic Change party urged Ramaphosa to resign, accusing him of being dishonest to Parliament last year about his family’s relationship with Bosasa.
"Simply put, President Ramaphosa is clearly not up to the job, and now needs to step aside and allow a principled and effective individual to lead the country and fight the scourge of corruption plaguing our nation," party leader Moses Mayekiso said in a statement.