Court: Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s investigation into Cyril Ramaphosa’s #CR17 ANC campaign was unlawful

Pretoria High Court on Tuesday found that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not mislead Parliament about a R500 000 Bosasa donation, as earlier said by the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in her report.

The court said Mkhwebane acted recklessly and irrationally by raising money laundering suspicion by the #CR17 campaign with no tangible evidence.

The court also found that the #CR17 campaign donation was private and the president had no obligation to declare.

The judgment was scathing on the Public Protector, with Judge Elias Matojane saying that the president was correct in his court papers to say Mkhwebane was ‘confused’.

The judge said the Public Protector’s approach was fatally flawed due to fundamental error of law.

“We find (Public Protector) did not only commit a material misdirection in her legal approach [to the issue of misleading parliament], but also reached an irrational and unlawful conclusion on the facts before her,” said Matojane.