Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa's woes continue to mount as the office of the Public Protector confirms another complaint lodged against him.
The DA has complained to the office, alleging that Ramaphosa abused state resources for party-related activities.
According to the DA, Ramaphosa used an SANDF Oryx helicopter to participate in the ANC’s Letsema campaign in Welkom on October 8, 2022.
The DA in the Free State has written a letter to the acting Public Protector, advocate Kholeka Gcaleka, urging her to investigate Ramaphosa for misusing state resources for party political purposes.
The party provided pictures of Ramaphosa landing in the military helicopter in his ANC regalia.
The letter was sent to Gcaleka on Tuesday. In the letter, the party’s George Michalakis said it was a gross abuse of state resources.
Michalakis said although Ramaphosa was entitled to protection services, this did not give him “carte blanche” to misuse this privilege.
“The Air Force and SANDF as a whole do not have enough resources to fulfil their constitutional function of safeguarding the republic.
“It cannot be then that it is ethical for the president to use such resources where alternatives are available and certainly not for party political purposes,” she said.
The Public Protector's spokesperson Oupa Sekgwale confirmed that Gcaleka received the complaint and was looking into the matter.
“The Public Protector is assessing the complaint to determine if the institution has jurisdiction over the matter,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya defended the move, indicating that the SAPS and SANDF were required to ensure the president is at all times securely conveyed, including when he is attending to private matters.
But Michalakis said this was a serious contravention of the following statutes:
• An existing Free State government policy regarding the separation of party and state
• The spirit of Schedule 2 (Electoral Code of Conduct) in the Electoral Act
• Sections 96, 136, and 195 of the Constitution
• The spirit of Article 17 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance
• Article 25 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
She said it was a serious risk to the country’s democracy that the defence force is used for party political activities a few months before a general election and a possible handover of political power.
“I would further argue that it is also not the primary objective of the SANDF to safeguard the president, but rather the republic in an impartial manner.
“Section 200(2) of the Constitution states that the primary objective of the defence force is to defend and protect the republic, its territorial integrity, and its people in accordance with the Constitution and the principles of international law regulating the use of force,” said Michalakis.
He said it was clear that the use of the SANDF for these purposes was not consistent with the spirit and intentions of the Constitution as far as it relates to the conflict of party and state.
The DA requested that remedial action be taken against Ramaphosa. This includes:
• That the president be barred from using SANDF resources where other
cheaper forms of transport are available;
• That, if the current regulations are found not to be in contravention of the above statutes, the president at least whilst in transit be barred from wearing party political wear;
• That the current regulations with regard to the president’s entitlement to make use of such resources be found to be inconsistent with the constitution and therefore in conflict with the principle of separation of party and state – in other words, that state resources with regard to transport cannot be used for party political purposes at all;
• That in this particular case the president is found to have misused state resources.
Political analyst and governance expert Sandile Swana said the trip was private and for his career benefit.
“The SAPS VIP protection unit must provide transport at all times and protect the president in doing so.
“The trip is marred by the opportunism of using the SANDF helicopter and also donating a state-funded house to a member of the public as if the funding came from CR22 or ANC24 coffers.
“The SANDF has to clarify the specific guidelines and regulations they followed to carry out this trip and venture,” said Swana.
SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini failed to respond to questions regarding the matter.
This is the second complaint that the DA has reported against Ramaphosa and the ANC’s Letsema campaign in Free State.
In July the party wrote to Gcaleka to launch an investigation into the abuse of the state resources after Ramaphosa and Free State Premier Sesi Ntombela donated a state-funded house to a member of the public under the pretence that the funding came from the ANC.
Meanwhile, the public is still waiting for the release of the Phala Phala report against Ramaphosa for allegedly violating the Executive Members Ethics Act concerning a robbery of millions in US dollars from his Bela Bela farm in Limpopo.
The complaints were laid after a criminal case was opened by former spy boss Arthur Fraser, who alleged, among other things, that Ramaphosa was involved in money laundering, linked to wads of foreign currency allegedly stashed in a couch on his farm.