Mbeki’s meeting with ANC leaders ‘an opportunity to get guidance’

Former president Thabo Mbeki is reportedly meeting with top African National Congress (ANC) leaders at Luthuli House on Tuesday evening.

The ANC told SABC News the meeting, which started at 6pm, was “an opportunity to get guidance” from Mbeki. President Cyril Ramaphosa was reportedly not in attendance.

“This is an opportunity for the leadership of the ANC to put their heads together to get council, to get wisdom but also to engage with our former president and to come to certain conclusions,” ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told SABC.

The meeting follows Mbeki’s letter to Deputy President Paul Mashatile in which he criticised ANC MPs for, among other issues, voting against the establishment of an ad-hoc committee to investigate the burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020.

‘No evidence’

Last month, MPs voted against the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) motion for the establishment of the ad-hoc committee, with 204 MPs voting against the motion, while 135 voted in favour of the motion.

The ANC said it rejected the establishment of the ad-hoc committee because the DA’s proposal already had a “predetermined” conclusion that Ramaphosa was guilty.

“This violates his right to presumption of innocence. It’s opportunistic because the motion of the establishment of an ad-hoc committee ignores findings of the Sars and Public Protector. This motion risks undermining the authority and legitimacy of the National Assembly to hold the executive to account.

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“It gives the impression that the National Assembly is willing to interfere with the work of the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies. There is no evidence that President Ramaphosa committed any crime. Opposition is extremely desperate. We have elections next year but they can’t use their energy to mobilise the masses for their cause. We will win this election and they will remain as opposition.”

Mbeki letter

However, in his letter late last month, Mbeki criticised the ANC MPs’ decision, and said voting against an investigation into the Phala Phala issue impacted the standing of the ANC with South Africans.

“Many among the masses of our people will entertain the suspicion that the Phala Phala matter includes corruption. In that sense this is no different from the Nkandla matter, which, once again, many among our people suspected involved corrupt practice,” wrote Mbeki in the leaked letter.

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“As you know, the 3-person panel appointed by parliament concerning the Phala Phala matter decided that that Comrade President ‘had a case to answer’ with regard to a process of impeachment. What should have followed this is that the National Assembly would have appointed a multi-party committee precisely to investigate the matter of whether the comrade president did indeed have a ‘case to answer’.

“However, we voted to stop the formation of the MPC,” wrote Mbeki at the time.

The former president was, however, equally criticised by ANC’s first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane, who reportedly called on him to stop criticising and rather give Ramaphosa counsel.

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