Ramaphosa confirms request to cross-examine Maimane in Bosasa probe

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that he wants to cross-examine DA leader Mmusi Maimane and other witnesses who participated in public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's probe into a donation his campaign team received from Bosasa.

Mkhwebane on Wednesday confirmed in a letter to Maimane that Ramaphosa was implicated in her probe brought to her by Maimane.

The probe relates to a R500,000 donation by Bosasa towards Ramaphosa's ANC presidential campaign during the party's 2017 elective conference.

Maimane filed a complaint with Mkhwebane and wants her to investigate whether Ramaphosa deliberately misled parliament last year when he initially said the money was paid to his son Andile as part of a legitimate business transaction.

He later corrected his statement in a letter to parliament.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko said they had received a notice in terms of section 7(9) of the Public Protector Act.

The notice is to inform any person if they are implicated in a matter under investigation by the public protector.

"The president has responded to the public protector, requesting an extension of the period given to him to respond to the matters raised in the public protector's provisional report. The public protector has granted such extension until June 21 2019," said Diko.

"The president has further requested to exercise his entitlement to question the complainant, Mr Maimane, and several witnesses who had appeared before the public protector during the course of her investigation in terms of section 7 (9) (b) (ii) of the act,” added Diko.

She said Ramaphosa was committed to fully co-operating with the public protector during her investigation and to ensure that the matter was brought to its conclusion.

It was reported that Mkhwebane, in her letter to Maimane, also requested that Ramaphosa supply questions he intended to ask witnesses to determine whether it was justifiable to allow a cross-examination.

The latest developments come after weekend media reports said Mkhwebane's preliminary report had found that Ramaphosa did indeed mislead parliament.