Johannesburg – Former President Thabo Mbeki has thrown his support behind President Cyril Ramaphosa in the ongoing Phala Phala matter, stating that the Constitutional Court was justified in allowing a parliamentary committee to continue its work on the case.
Mbeki said the matter has “nothing to do with the ANC” and cautioned the party not to become preoccupied with it, as it involves an individual businessman.
He also emphasised that he supports Ramaphosa’s decision to challenge the matter legally.
Recalling an early conversation with Ramaphosa, Mbeki said: “When this first matter first arose of the Phala Phala issue, I phoned President Ramaphosa. I said, I see this is what they are reporting in the media. What is the story? So he told me the same story that they repeated at an ANC rally. ‘I’m a farmer, businessman, cattle, wildlife, buy and sell. And that’s all that happened.’”
Mbeki said Ramaphosa described the incident as a straightforward business deal. “I said to him, ‘In which case please include all of these details you are telling me, ’cause it’s straightforward, it’s just a straightforward business deal, president. That’s what we’re doing.’”
According to Mbeki, the president was correct to treat the issue as a private matter between a businessman, a farmer, and whoever comes to buy and sell from his farm. “It’s not an ANC matter. He’s not been trading as an ANC businessman. It’s his own matter.”
Mbeki confirmed he supported Ramaphosa’s legal approach. “He says the law allows me to challenge this thing. I said please go ahead. It’s perfectly okay.”
The former president also revealed that he had previously written to the leader of government business after Parliament took what he called a “wrong decision” — when lawmakers voted not to allow a panel led by a chief justice to refer the matter to a parliamentary committee. “They used the ANC majority to do a wrong thing,” Mbeki said.
He noted that the Constitutional Court’s ruling effectively agreed with his position from two years ago. “I think the Constitutional Court is correct. I think the speaker has acted correctly to say, ‘Okay parliamentarians, let’s constitute this committee and this committee must do its work.’”
Mbeki reiterated that Ramaphosa has consistently described himself as a businessman. “He says so — I’m a businessman. I’m running a business. I sell and buy cattle and wildlife. So what more do you want him to say? He was quite correct.”
He added that Parliament must do what the Constitutional Court said it must do, while the ANC should focus on its own business. “Unless there are people in the ANC who are in fact in partnership with business Ramaphosa — so they must then take a stand. There’s no need to… I’m a businessman.”
Concluding, Mbeki said of the relevant agency: “They must say, ‘Well, please take care of yourself.’ And then…”