Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted to having had an extramarital affair.
However, he’s dismissed allegations that he dallied with a string of women as a dirty trick campaign to jeopardize his chances of succeeding President Jacob Zuma as leader of the ruling African National Congress.
Cyril Ramaphosa says an affair he had with a doctor in the north eastern province of Limpopo ended eight years ago.
In an interview with the Johannesburg Sunday Times, he says he and his wife have come terms with the matter and remain happily married.
The rival Sunday Independent says after Ramaphosa’s court bid to muzzle it failed, it’s able to claim it has details of alleged relations between Ramaphosa – who is married with children – and about eight women.
It releases details of three this week and intends exposing information about the other alleged affairs in the future.
Ramaphosa describes claims made about his personal life as an episode that extends far beyond an attempt at political smear.
He says it’s an escalation of a dirty war against those who are working to restore the values, principles and integrity of the African National Congress and society.
Ramaphosa says he find suggestions that he paid money to women with whom he was supposedly in relationships to be deeply disturbing.
He maintains that he and his wife financially assist 54 students, both men and women.