The Presidency issued a statement on Wednesday to shed light on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s son Andile’s controversial business dealings with African Global Operations (AGO), formerly known as Bosasa, and the R500 000 donation that was made to the President’s African National Congress Presidential campaign.

The Presidency said it noted media reports and commentary around the testimony at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture yesterday, which “conflate a number of separate issues”.

The Presidency explained that in April 2017 Andile’s company Blue Crane Capital entered into discussions with AGO to explore possible business opportunities in East African countries.

Blue Crane Capital and AGO signed an advisory mandate in December 2017, as well as an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy in January 2018.

“According to information made public by Blue Crane, the contract stipulated a monthly retainer of R150 000, which was later increased to R230 000. By the time Blue Crane terminated the contract in January 2019, following revelations at the Zondo Commission, AGO had paid Blue Crane around R2-million for work done in fulfilment of the contract,” said the Presidency.

Ramaphosa was made aware of the business relationship between Andile’s business and AGO in September 2018, following “a rumour” that his son had received a payment of R500 000 from AGO.

The Presidency claims that Andile explained to the President the nature of the business and showed him a copy of the contract.

Following this interaction, the President then replied to a question from Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane in the National Assembly in November 2018. The statement says the President assumed Maimane’s question was related to his son’s business contract.

“However, as the President was subsequently made aware, the payment of R500 000 had been a donation by Mr Gavin Watson of AGO to the CR17 campaign through an attorney trust account that was used for the purposes of fundraising for the political campaign. Having established the facts of the matter, the President wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly on 15 November 2018 to provide the correct information,” the Presidency explained.

The Presidency clarified that the donation to the campaign was unrelated to the contract between Blue Crane and AGO, and that furthermore the campaign donation was made without the President’s knowledge.

The donation from Mr Watson was sought and obtained by the CR17 campaign without the President’s knowledge, as the campaign managers took a decision not to disclose to the President the identity of donors or amounts pledged.

“The President has subsequently been informed that, following revelations at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, the former CR17 campaign managers took a decision to return the donation. The funds, amounting to R500 000, have been placed in an attorney’s trust account until allegations against Mr Watson and AGO have been clarified,” the Presidency concluded.

The Presidency acknowledged that the testimony before the State capture inquiry needed to be fully investigated and corroborated and added that the President has reiterated his commitment to appear before the Commission.

“This gesture also serves to encourage other South Africans to answer the call by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo for witnesses to step forward and assist the Commission in its hearing of evidence,” said the statement.