President Cyril Ramaphosa has revealed that his campaign to oust Jacob Zuma at the ANC’s conference in Nasrec last year was partly funded by a controversial government contractor who is also trading with his son, Andile.
Ramaphosa made the revelation on Friday afternoon in a letter to national assembly speaker Baleka Mbete.
In the letter, Ramaphosa backtracks from the statement he made to parliament last Tuesday that the R500,000 paid to his son by African Global Operations, formerly known as BOSASA, was for legitimate business between the company and Andile.
In the document, Ramaphosa tells Mbete that after his reply to the question from DA leader Mmusi Maimane last week, he went to seek further information.
Ramaphosa says he has since discovered that the payment had nothing to do with his son and it was actually a donation to fund his presidential bid.
He said the payment was made by African Global Operations on behalf of its CEO, Gavin Watson. The president said the donation was made without his knowledge and he was not aware of it when he answered questions in the national assembly last week.