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The African Transformation Movement (ATM) is shocked and disappointed with the adverse findings of the report of the Public Protector.

We had taken the Presidents’ word for a “new dawn” and a corrupt free administration, free of all malfeasance For the President, in his prior capacity as the Deputy President, not to have disclosed the donations received in his personal capacity is highly disappointing and as per the Public Protector, it is in violation of the ethics code.

The finding by the Public Protector, that the President misled Parliament in terms of the sources of the donation as well as the destination of these donation is another regrettable finding. It places reasonable doubt to the credibility of the President as far as trust is concerned. It begs the question, “what else has not been disclosed and what else could the President have misled parliament in?”.

We are therefore uncertain that anything that the President will ever say is true from here onwards. It is impractical for us to always rely on the Public Protector to verify whether whatever the President would be saying is true or not. In her report, the Public Protector states that the donation of R500 000 by Bosasa to President Ramaphosa’s campaign was not channelled directly to the campaign account but passed through several intermediaries, pointing to money laundering in this regard – a fact we simply cannot ignore.

The report also states that there are additional amounts ranging between 30 and 51 million of the 250 million raised towards the Presidents’ campaign, but the donors would not be named as per agreement with the administrators of the Shanduka Trust.

The Public Protector mentions a clear indication of State Capture. The President, by misleading Parliament and not declaring interest, has violated the Executive Ethics Code and the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests and Permanent Council Members.

The African Transformation Movement, in support of the Public Protector and representing the people of South Africa, hereby calls for the implementation of remedial action in relation to the findings of the Public Protector. We cannot be led by a President who does not value ethics and disclosure of interests. We cannot continue being led by people who auction the country to the highest bidder and at times, to any bidder at all.

Without pre-empting the resolutions of the Members and Ethics Committee, we are calling on the President to put South Africa first by peacefully stepping down. The country deserved a leader it can trust and not second guess.

Issued by The African Transformation Movement