S African president cleared of graft accusations

JOHANNESBURG: A South African court on Tuesday ruled in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa in a probe of suspected money laundering and personal enrichment linked to his 2019 party leadership election campaign fund.

Judges dismissed an investigation by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in which she accused Ramaphosa of misleading parliament over his campaign financing.

In a damning report last year, Mkhwebane -- South Africa’s ethics watchdog -- published findings concerning a 500,000 rand ($31,460) donation to Ramaphosa’s campaign from a company facing extensive corruption allegations.

Ramaphosa initially told lawmakers that the payment was to his son for consultancy work at the company, now known as African Global Operations (AGO).

He later backtracked and said it was a donation towards his campaign to become ANC party leader -- a hard-fought battle in which he beat ex-president Jacob Zuma’s chosen candidate. Mkhwebane accused Ramaphosa of deliberately misleading parliament for illegal purposes.

But the president dismissed the report and took the case to the High Court, which on Tuesday declared Mkhwebane’s findings as "unlawful". "There is simply no evidence that the president received personal financial benefit from any campaign contributions," said judge Elias Matojane.