Johannesburg – South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose presidential campaign is modelled on moral and ethical leadership, appears not to practise what he preaches.
Ramaphosa, who is also the chairperson of the SA National Aids Council (Sanac) and an outspoken critic of sugar daddies and “blessers”, is allegedly using his massive wealth to prey on multiple women, some of whom are university students.
The Sunday Independent has seen documents linking him to at least eight women, many of whom he maintains financially by paying their tuition fees, accommodation and other expenses.
Last Thursday, before this writer could e-mail questions to Ramaphosa, he was sent an SMS in which he was requested to provide us with his private e-mail address to which questions of a personal nature could be sent. Ramaphosa duly responded and supplied two alternative private e-mail addresses.
Interestingly, the e-mail addresses he gave were the same ones he is said to have used to communicate with all the women.
In today’s story, The Sunday Independent will reveal communication between three of the women with Ramaphosa, while the rest will be revealed in future editions.
Documents seen by the paper reveal how Ramaphosa holds three alternative e-mail accounts under fake names, which he uses to communicate with the women.
The e-mails go by the names of Mambo Dimbanyika, Singo Maberemisa and Mambo Velelambeu.
Some of the extra-marital relationships appear to have lasted for years, while other are more recent.
The documents state how one of the women, with whom Ramaphosa has had a relationship for years, had miscarried his baby.
While the woman, who Ramaphosa addressed as “Mukhethwa” (The Chosen One) confirmed having had a romantic relationship with Ramaphosa, she claimed it ended “some time ago”.
However, the e-mails tell a different story.
They reveal the pair were communicating even this year. In virtually all her communication with Ramaphosa, the woman sounds like a broken-hearted and emotionally battered person who is battling to quit the relationship.
She accused Ramaphosa of not caring for her and loving her during their entire 10-year-long relationship.
The woman confirmed she had a miscarriage, but denied Ramaphosa was the father.
Again, communications between the pair tell a different tale.
In one of the e-mails she asks Ramaphosa whether losing her baby was a sad moment or relief.
She also asked the deputy president what he would have done if the pregnancy was successful but with complications during delivery.
She asks Ramaphosa whether he would have saved the baby or her.
The woman also asked Ramaphosa why he had bought her a ring.
In his response, Ramaphosa said he would prefer to respond to the woman’s questions on “a face-to-face basis”.
Asked if she had ever received any financial support from Ramaphosa, the woman told The Sunday Independent: “Mr Ramaphosa never took care of me financially during our relationship.
“I have always been independent.
“However, I now have a strictly business relationship with Mr Ramaphosa, where I provide property development management and quantity surveying services to all his properties in Limpopo, Gauteng and the Western Cape, for which my company is being paid.”
Again, communication between the pair shows the woman sent Ramaphosa a list of items including a television set, couch, and tool storage house.
In his response, Ramaphosa said he would transfer R50 000 into the woman’s account.
The woman later wrote to him confirming having received a notification from her bank about a cash deposit.
Another woman, a 29-year-old marketing student, denied dating Ramaphosa.
The Sunday Independent sent questions to both e-mail addresses she used in her communication with Ramaphosa.
Upon receipt of the questions, the hysterical student called, confirming she was dating a married man but not Ramaphosa.
But the e-mail evidence shows how she has been sending erotic pictures and very intimate videos dedicated to Ramaphosa.
They also show how she and Ramaphosa met in 2012 when she was pregnant with another man’s child.
In an e-mail in July 2014, the woman asked Ramaphosa for financial help to assist her in buying furniture.
The e-mails between the pair show the woman has been receiving thousands from Ramaphosa, with whom she was planning to have a baby.
Following her call to The Sunday Independent, the woman sent an e-mailed response using the same e-mail address she had been using to communicate with Ramaphosa.
It read: “Impossible, all your speculations are not true. I don’t have a romantic relationship with him. I repeat, please, I don’t know how you can try discriminate (sic) a man who has never heard of me.”
Another woman appears to have doubled as Ramaphosa’s medical practitioner and lover.
The Sunday Independent called her on her cellphone, asking to provide her e-mail address where questions could be sent. The e-mail address she provided was the same one she used in dozens of her e-mail communications with Ramaphosa.
The medical doctor failed to respond to the questions that were sent to her private e-mail address.
However, questions that were sent to her private e-mail were leaked on social media on Friday.
A few hours after her questions were leaked, those sent to the two private e-mail addresses that Ramaphosa had given The Sunday Independent were also leaked.
Ramaphosa’s 11th hour legal bid fails
In a desperate attempt to gag The Sunday Independent, Ramaphosa on Saturday night approached the high court in Joburg on an extremely urgent basis to prevent us from publishing this article.
Ramaphosa argued that publication of the article and future publications about it would harm his privacy and reputation.
But The Sunday Independent argued that the information was not private and was in the public interest.
Judge Bashir Vally handed down his decision just before the printers began rolling at 9.15 on Sunday night.
He dismissed Ramaphosa’s application on the basis that his case failed at the first hurdle it encountered – he had not explained why his case was urgent in the circumstances.
Ramaphosa was ordered to pay the costs, including the costs of two counsel. The Sunday Independent
