THE Constitutional Court is expected to hand down a ruling on Thursday in the battle between Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The case relates to the funding of President Ramaphosa’s campaign for leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) in 2017, commonly referred to as CR17.
The court will rule whether the president misled Parliament on the donations made to the CR17 campaign.
Last year, Gauteng Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba heard the matter on the unsealing of the CR17 documents following an application by the EFF.
The documents were sealed in 2019 after Ramaphosa approached the North Gauteng High Court, arguing that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane had allegedly obtained the documents illegally.
In a report in which Mkhwebane made an adverse finding against Ramaphosa, she found that the president had lied to Parliament when he responded to a question on a R500 000 donation made to his 2017 ANC presidency campaign by the controversial Bosasa group.
During the application, the EFF said the documents remaining sealed would encourage corruption.
The EFF motivated for the unsealing of the documents, which include financial statements reflecting payments made to the CR17 campaign.
In March, the EFF told the High Court in Pretoria that unsealing the financial records of Ramaphosa’s 2017 ANC presidential campaign will stop possible corruption that could flourish through private funding.
Advocate Ishmael Semenya, SC, for the EFF, said it was imperative for the democratic project in South Africa to have transparency.
- Own Correspondent
