Court clears Ramaphosa of wilfully misleading MPs
Thursday, July 01, 2021

South Africa’s highest court has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of allegations by the country’s anti-corruption watchdog that he wilfully misled lawmakers over donations for his campaign for the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) in 2017.

In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane erred when she found that Mr Ramaphosa deceived parliament about a payment for the campaign.

Mr Ramaphosa’s campaign received about 300m South African rand ($21m; £14m) and his critics have called for the list of donors to be made public.

The top court’s ruling came two days after it sentenced President Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, to 15 months in prison for defying its order to testify before a judge-led commission of inquiry into corruption.