Mbalula: Trevor Manuel is a ‘drama queen’

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has, in a series of tweets on Saturday, lashed out at former finance minister Trevor Manuel for his statement that the notion of “white monopoly capital” was misguided.

City Press reported on Sunday on a talk given by Manuel at the Nelson Mandela Foundation that the alternative for those who were fighting WMC was “Indian monopoly capital out of Saxonwold”.

He was quoted as saying that the best alternative was “how we build an inclusive economy”.

“White monopoly capital doesn’t exist – other than what has been generated by [British PR agency] Bell Pottinger,” he said.

The longest-serving finance minister in South Africa’s history also gave insight into how the relationship with ratings agencies had been maintained during the Mandela era. He said agencies needed to feel a sense of trust in leaders and “policy must be predictable, and I think that is a discontinuity we have at the moment”.

However, the police minister said Manuel did not have the right to speak against “capture” when he was “drowning” in being “captured” himself. “No wonder her can’t see its existence,” he said.

In fact, it was difficult for Manuel to understand white monopoly capital when his household earnings were over R100 million annually, Mbalula further alleged.

“Trevor is also yet to explain how Absa, where his better half serves as CEO, admitted to rand/currency manipulation,” he added.

Manuel needed political education, which was dismissed too soon for him. If not, he would have known the ANC had always been clear on who has control over the economy.

“What I expected was for him to substantiate his claim that monopoly capital is a figment of our imagination and an invention of some people.”

His comment on the Guptas was just a deflection from the real debate about who really owned the economy, he said.

Manuel further needed to explain why 90% of the country’s wealth was in the hands of the minority.

“Will Trevor also explain the recent reaction by corporate SA intervening on Knysna yet always ignore Khayelitsha when it goes up in flames?