Glencore US scandal brings Ramaphosa’s ties into question

Amid the scandal in the aftermath of mining company Glencore pleading guilty in the US to bribery and market manipulation, analysts on Monday said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s close business ties with the commodities and oil producer could see him hauled before parliament to answer questions from opposition MPs.

This could further tarnish his reputation as an anti-state capture champion and corruption buster. Fraudulent tactics employed by Glencore in conducting its business have led to the company agreeing to pay a fine of more than R15 billion.

In lambasting Ramaphosa and Glencore, the EFF described the company as “a criminal syndicate, without any legitimate business where it operates – notably between 2007 and 2018, employing corrupt tactics throughout the world”.

“There is no reason to believe that any of Glencore’s business dealings in South Africa were above board,” said Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Sinawo Thambo.

“Glencore’s relationship with Cyril Ramaphosa, which started in 2012 when they sold him shares, was nothing but a corrupt transaction.

“Glencore paid Ramaphosa through intermediaries to gain political influence and manipulate contracts with key state-owned entities, particularly Eskom.”

Independent political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga and brand communications expert Dr Sarah Britten agreed that the Glencore revelations were bound to further harm Ramaphosa’s public reputation.

“This is certainly not good news for Ramaphosa – even if he might say he was at arm’s length regarding Glencore dealings,” Mathekga said.

“What has transpired strengthens the long-existing suspicion about his involvement in special interests.

“The EFF will be pushing him for responses in parliament and it is not going to be comfortable – throwing water on Ramaphosa’s anti-corruption programme.”

Britten said the Glencore saga would provide a useful boost to the radical economic transformation group’s white monopoly capital narrative “and I expect to see the usual social media accounts take advantage of it, adding fuel to the fire”.

Describing Ramaphosa’s reputation as being “frayed”, Britten said the public perceived Ramaphosa as “weak, indecisive, incapable of delivering change – standing by while the country was being looted”.

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“This is within the overall context of an ANC that is profoundly corrupt, an organisation that is rotten to the core, which must lose power in 2024 – a hope expressed several times by South Africans of all races.

“The last time Ramaphosa had admirers was at the beginning of the lockdown in 2020. “Since then, he has squandered any social capital he might have had. “It’s hard to knock someone’s reputation when his reputation is already flush with the floorboards.”

Reacting to the Glencore scandal, Eskom former chief executive Matshela Koko, told The Citizen of his intention to submit documents to the US attorney-general about flaws in the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture he maintained failed to properly investigate Ramaphosa’s role in pushing the company’s agenda.

“What has transpired in the US is an indictment of the Zondo commission, which had evidence before it that between March 2012 and February 2014, Mr Ramaphosa was chairman of Optimum under Glencore,” Koko said.

“They had taken over Optimum without doing due diligence. My submission to the commission was that they did so because they had an ace up their sleeves – and that ace was none other than Mr Ramaphosa.

“It is no coincidence that when [Glencore] took over Optimum in March 2012, they supplied substandard coal to Eskom.”