Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has officially filed the evidence she relied on to draw up her Bosasa report – but it will remain secret for now.
Mkhwebane’s legal team filed the evidence at the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday morning.
According to News24, the records include bank statements of CR17 campaign entities as well as emails.
A letter from the court’s Deputy Judge President, Aubrey Ledwaba, to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mkhwebane’s respective legal teams confirms that the evidence will be sealed.
Ledwaba directed that the records should be deposited at his office and not at the registrar of the court as is usually the case.
He called the two legal teams to a meeting on 15 August to resolve concerns raised by Ramaphosa’s lawyers.
In a letter to Ledwaba last week, the president’s lawyers questioned whether Mkwhebane had obtained part of her evidence lawfully or not.
They therefore requested that the evidence be kept sealed from the public until the matter is resolved.
R500,000 campaign donation
The evidence relates to Mkhwebane’s report on whether Ramaphosa misled Parliament about a R500,000 donation by ex-Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson to his 2017 CR17 campaign.
Mkhwebane expanded her investigation to include the entire CR17 campaign funding.
Ramaphosa has taken the report on review with a view to setting it aside.
He has already obtained an interim interdict suspending implementation of Mkhwebane’s remedial actions on the matter.
Meanwhile, Mkhwebane insisted in a tweet on Wednesday that she obtained all evidence in her report lawfully.
The Public Protector has investigative mandate in terms of the constitution and all documents were acquired legally from the credible statutory institution. No record was acquired criminally.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane