Pay back the Bosasa money, DA challenges ANC
The ANC's Zweli Mkhize was forced to concede this week that the ANC has long been the beneficiary of largesse from the tender-centric company.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane addresses supporters outside Bosasa offices in Krugersdorp in Johannesburg, 23 November 2018. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
In a statement on Thursday, the DA challenged the governing ANC to put its Bosasa money not where its mouth is and repay the millions in contributions it had received from the controversial facilities management company formerly called Bosasa.
Now known as African Global Operations, the company has been subjected to a landslide of corruption allegations and poor publicity, to the point that it has needed to file for liquidation. Its banks, among its other problems, no longer want anything to do with them.
The probability of their state contracts being renewed is also slim to zero. The Mail & Guardian has estimated that the company raked in tenders worth at least R12 billion over 15 years.
The company was also a regular ANC party funder, with even President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign team for his elections receiving R500,000 from either the company or its CEO, Gavin Watson.
DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi said on Thursday that in the wake of former ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize conceding that the ANC had accepted payments from Bosasa “while they were fully aware of the corruption surrounding the company”, they should not be allowed to get away with it.
“This concession cannot simply go with impunity. The ANC must pay back every cent it received in Bosasa kickbacks.
“Reports indicate that an estimated R40 million in public money has allegedly been spent by Bosasa in the form of donations, sponsored ANC events, funded rallies in the run-up to the 2014 elections and even the controversial R500,000 paid to Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential campaign. This figure excludes the billions which have been siphoned by the ANC government over the years.
“These latest revelations are an indication that Bosasa has acted as a front for ANC corruption for decades. It is clear that it is not only former president Jacob Zuma who has been embroiled in corrupt activities, but that the entire ANC is rotten to the core.”
He alleged the ANC was an organisation without virtue, “which uses the proceeds of bribery to advance their failing political agenda”.
“South Africans have not recovered from the consequences of Zuma’s calamitous nine years in office which brought carnage and destruction to our country, leaving over 9 million South African citizens unemployed and with dwindling prospects of finding a job.
“It is becoming increasingly evident that Zuma’s nine years were only a waste for everyone but those connected to the ANC and its corrupt networks.”
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