African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was not disturbed by ActionSA’s attempts to investigate the multi-million rand debt settlement to Ezulwini Investment.
He said the four-year R102 million debt was settled through the Treasurer General’s office.
“The settlement is fairly straightforward,” he said.
He invited anyone who wished to probe the legitimacy of the settlement to go ahead with their attempts.
“Whoever wants to look at that may do so if they do wish, it’s a settlement of the debt that the ANC had,” he said.
This is after the ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont revealed that his party had written to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for party funding, seeking an investigation into the ANC’s settlement of a debt with Ezulweni Investments.
According to Beaumont, the measures were taken to ensure that the debt was settled legally with the Political Party Funding Act to prevent state capture risk.
“The revelations of the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, which paved the way for the (Political) Party Funding Act, revealed in great detail how the ANC funded its activities through its donors receiving tenders,” he said in a statement.
On December 22, the ANC issued a two-line statement stating that a settlement had been reached in the best interests of both parties. No details were provided in terms of the nature of this settlement.
The ANC’s national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told IOL that they would not discuss the details of the agreement.
Meanwhile, ActionSA has written to the ANC treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa to make arrangements for the provision of this information.
“South Africans deserve answers regarding the terms of this settlement and its compliance with the Party Funding Act,” the party said.
According to reports, Ramokgopa has said she is not forced to account to opposition parties with regard to the settlement.
IOL Politics