Cyril Ramaphosa breaks silence on Arthur Fraser’s bid to bully him

President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 15th national congress of the SACP. Picture: Supplied

President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 15th national congress of the SACP. Picture: Supplied

Published Jul 18, 2022

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Pretoria - President Cyril Ramaphosa has broken his silence about criminal charges brought against him by former State Security Agency (SSA) boss Arthur Fraser, calling them an attempt to “intimidate and bully him” to stop his fight against corruption.

The defiant Ramaphosa made these stern remarks following calls from some Radical Economic Transformation (RET) members within his party for him to step down. It was also in apparent reaction to some RET party members led by former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo and former Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans spokesperson Carl Niehaus, who led a group of almost 300 people to ANC headquarters in Joburg, Luthuli House, to demand the president’s removal.

Addressing the third day of the 15th national congress of the SACP at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre, Ramaphosa was adamant that Fraser’s criminal charges and other “related matters” were an effort to stop him from renewing and uniting the ANC. In February, Fraser laid criminal charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and assault against Ramaphosa, alleging that foreign currency worth $4 million (about R68.3m) was stolen from the president’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

The former spy boss also alleged that Ramaphosa, after the alleged theft and robbery, participated in the alleged assault of the perpetrators, including his domestic worker.

The alleged offence took place in February 2020 and Fraser laid the charges two years later. A defiant Ramaphosa was adamant that law enforcement agencies would be allowed to conduct their investigation thoroughly without fear or favour.

He, however, said: “I am not going to be intimidated or bullied into submission to stop the fight against corruption and wrongdoing. I will do my work. I will do my work for the good of the country. We are in the fight for the soul of the ANC,” Ramaphosa said.

He warned those who were trying to block the government from acting on the findings of the Zondo Commission on Inquiry into State Capture, which implicated senior high-ranking officials of the ANC. He avoided naming them but vowed to act on the recommendations of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Ramaphosa also used his address to appeal to SACP top leadership and members to help him in his bid to rid South Africa of corruption.

“I appeal to you to be part of the battle against corruption. You must not be spectators, onlookers, bystanders and neighbours. You must be active participants in our task to renew and rebuild the ANC,” he said.

Ramaphosa also committed himself to improving relations with the SACP and Cosatu at national, provincial and regional levels. The commitment came after the SACP and Cosatu had in the past complained about being ignored and overlooked when it came to the selection of candidates for local and national government elections.

The SACP and Cosatu also alleged that the ANC wanted to be treated as the “big brother” despite being equal partners in the Tripartite Alliance.

Ramaphosa also appealed to the national congress to deal with the issue of the concentration of South Africa’s economy in the hands of a few, saying organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund had raised concerns about the skewed concentration of the South African economy.

Pretoria News