Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation Minister Maropene Ramokgopa now stands accused alongside Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe of having accepted luxury Chinese SUVs allegedly intended as donations for the ANC Women’s League – but instead passed them on to her inner circle.

Tolashe, as Daily Maverick revealed last week, is accused of accepting two BAIC SUVs, allegedly from Chinese officials, without disclosing them as personal gifts.

Ramokgopa allegedly accepted three of the same BAIC SUVs. She did not disclose receiving any gifts for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Parliament Register of Members’ Interests.

These new allegations, implicating a Cabinet Minister who is not just one of Cyril Ramaphosa’s most trusted allies, but also a member of the ANC’s Top Six, are likely to cause a significant political headache for the President.

Multiple sources told DM that Ramokgopa had been part of the same transaction.

The account given by sources was consistent: five BAIC X55 vehicles were donated by Chinese representatives in late 2023, intended for the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL).

At that point, Tolashe was the president of the ANCWL and Ramokgopa was the national co-ordinator.

When ANCWL Treasurer Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae was asked by DM this week if the three SUVs allegedly given to Ramokgopa might indeed have reached their intended destination of the ANCWL, the response was the same: ‘I don’t know of any cars, as indicated earlier.’

The donation was made either by or through the Embassy of China in Pretoria under the leadership of former Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong, who left his post in March 2024.

A Dirco official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told DM that Chinese officials ‘will be watching this closely, but they hate to get drawn into the domestic politics of another country’.

Full Daily Maverick report