ANC president hopeful is target

SMEARS: 'FACELESS PEOPLE' LINK GWEN RAMOKGOPA TO ALLEGEDLY SERIOUS CRIMINAL >>→ Opponents aim to spread fake news to weaken her prospects — sources.

- Sipho Mabena

CLEAN. ANC treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa. Picture: Supplied

(Picture: Supplied)

ANC treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa has become the target of what appears to be a smear campaign, with her name being dragged into the scandal surrounding controversial businessman and alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

The scandal is currently under scrutiny by the judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, chaired by retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

According to messages circulated on social media and shared with several newspapers, including The Citizen, as well as online platforms, the “missing link” in the saga is the alleged connection between Matlala and “the ANC’s presidential hopeful Gwen Ramokgopa”.

Anonymous claims suggest that Matlala and Ramokgopa are so close that they refer to each other as “Ngwana ko hae”, or sibling, and that intercepted text messages allegedly show that Ramokgopa was a beneficiary of Matlala’s “largesse and illicit funds”.