Ramaphosa defends adviser Bejani Chauke over vote-buying allegations

He said: “There was a man who was [contesting] for treasurer-general. He worked in the office of the president. We raised our concern to say, ‘this person is in your office, he's going around buying votes. Please deal with that issue.’ Fortunately, he was not elected treasurer-general”.

Ramaphosa this week told Eyewitness News t he has asked Mantashe to provide evidence to back his remarks.

According to Ramaphosa, these were some of the many rumours thrown around inside and outside the ANC.

“I raised this with the national chairperson and said: ‘What was that [allegation] based on?’ He hasn't given me any information on that,” said Ramaphosa. “Sometimes it's easy to make these types of statements, and they're often made in the ANC, that there's been use of money. When you look at it more closely, when it comes to the real evidence, it's hard to come by.”

Chauke is so closely tied to Ramaphosa that he found himself facing allegations regarding the theft of millions in foreign currency from Phala Phala, the president’s farm in Limpopo.

Though he said he has never set foot on the farm, Chauke has been accused of transporting the money to the farm.  

He has denied rumours linking him to the theft, saying the allegations were politically motivated.

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