President Cyril Ramaphosa accuses former DA leader of possible state capture

President Cyril Ramaphosa said former DA leader Tony Leon’s behaviour smacks of state capture and influencing which companies get contracts.

Ramaphosa’s comments came after allegations from many former DA leaders against Leon’s public relations firm, Resolve Communications.

The debacle started following an explosive interview with former DA leader and Agriculture Minister, John Steenhuisen.

Steenhuisen claimed that Resolve Communications actively drove the relentless public narrative criticising him and his chief of staff at the Department of Agriculture.

He added that Resolve Communications regularly used its political proximity to the DA to approach him and other Government of National Unity (GNU) cabinet ministers.

Steenhuisen said that he was approached to facilitate meetings on behalf of Resolve Communications’ private corporate clients.

He found this behaviour highly concerning, given how close the firm’s leadership is to the DA itself. He flagged it internally to the party caucus as a major ethical risk.

ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont also accused Resolve Communications of improper conduct.

He said that Leon’s agency, acting on behalf of one of its clients, did things when Herman Mashaba was mayor of Johannesburg.

“Tony Leon had requested a meeting with Mashaba, and given Leon’s status as former leader of the party, Mashaba had agreed to meet him on 5 April 2019,” he wrote.

“At that meeting, Leon, as executive chairman of Resolve Communications, had pitched a product of one of his clients to the city for R300 million.”

According to Beaumont, the Democratic Alliance turned on Mashaba the moment that he refused to adhere to Leon’s demands.

Former Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, also said Leon and Resolve Communications repeatedly pressured him to meet with private clients.

President Cyril Ramaphosa comments on Tony Leon’s behaviour

President Cyril Ramaphosa shared his view on Leon’s actions on the sidelines of his visit to King Dalimvula Matanzima at Qamata Great Place in Cofimvaba.

“With regard to the allegations we are hearing about Tony Leon, this really smacks of the type of state capture that has been discussed,” he said.

“The very people who have been campaigning against state capture are now themselves deeply immersed in actively influencing where contracts should go.”

Ramaphosa added that the truth will still need to come out regarding Leon and his company, Resolve Communications.

Leon has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, saying that he and his firm adhere to the highest ethical standards.

He consistently maintained that neither he nor his firm, Resolve, did anything illegal, unethical, or improper.

“We’re a legitimate, law-abiding, ethically compliant company. I would never be involved in something involving an unlawful objective.”

“There’s a big difference between doing it lawfully, ethically, appropriately, robustly, certainly, and doing it unlawfully, Gupta-style state capture,” he said.

“They don’t belong in the same universe, never mind in the same sentence. I can only argue from what the facts are, not what some conspiracy theorists say.”