Oudpres. Thabo Mbeki – The Best Of Thabo Mbeki. (Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi/ANA)
Former Pres. In a strongly worded letter to the ANC, Thabo Mbeki did not turn a blind eye to the mistakes made by the ruling party specifically in relation to the Phala Phala saga and Eskom.
Mbeki wrote in a 17-page letter to adj. pres. Paul Mashatile and the rest of the ANC’s top seven, bare-knuckled among members of his party about their decisions regarding Phala Phala and Eskom.
The former president says it is common knowledge that the ANC has lost a lot of support over the past two decades, as well as the trust of many of its members.
“When the masses of our people finally lose faith in the ANC as their own organization and reliable service leader, our movement will perish and cease to exist – exactly the outcome that the counter-revolution has been pursuing for many decades and up to the present day.”
Mbeki believes that the ANC must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that it does not continue to repeat the serious mistakes that contributed to the loss of support for the party.
These mistakes include the Nkandla scandal, as well as more recent matters namely the Phala Phala saga and Eskom.
“Apart from and in addition to everything, successive serious mistakes of this nature will inevitably drive the vast majority of people away from the ANC, which will lead to its demise,” warned Mbeki.
Phala Phala
Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo: Stefan Heunis/AFP)
Regarding the Phala Phala saga, Mbeki says it has been nine months since the allegations came to light, yet no questions about it in the public domain have been answered. He believes the recent confirmation by the Revenue Service that the $580,000 (about R10.5 million) believed to be on pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm was hidden, not declared when it entered the country, deepens the mystery about what exactly happened on Phala Phala.
“In this respect it is in no way different from the Nkandla case where corrupt practices were suspected. Undoubtedly, the wrong positions we took on the Nkandla matter had a negative impact on the standing of the ANC among the largest majority of our people.
“It is also undoubted that any wrong position we take with regard to the Phala Phala matter will also have an equal or even more negative effect on the standing of the ANC among our people.”
Mbeki slammed the ANC for its decision not to appoint a parliamentary committee on Phala Phala. He believes there should have been such a committee to determine whether there is indeed a case to which Ramaphosa must answer.
“Then why did we stop a committee from being established that we believe would establish that our president did nothing wrong? Or do we say that we suspect or know that he has done something unacceptable and therefore decide that we must protect our president at all costs by ensuring that the committee is not set up?
“The manner in which we voted to block the establishment of the committee communicated the unequivocal statement that we do not want parliament to seek and obtain a deeper and comprehensive understanding of the Phala Phala matter.
“In other words, we acted the way we did because there is something to hide!”
Eskom
(Archive photo: GCIS)
Mbeki had the same harsh words for the ANC regarding the allegations of large-scale corruption, sabotage and the existence of crime cartels at Eskom.
He criticized the ANC for voting against the appointment of a parliamentary committee to investigate these allegations. There are strong indications that there is a counter-revolutionary force hiding behind the problems at Eskom which has worked radically to weaken the company, Mbeki believes.
“It was very wrong to vote against such a committee as it would mean the beginning of a process to unmask the counter-revolution which is possibly responsible for the many problems at Eskom.
“In any case, the public will expect our government to act immediately to investigate serious allegations of criminality aimed at weakening state institutions. It will have come across as very strange and disturbing to people that, when a proposal was made that parliament should undertake such a focused investigation into the alleged crime at Eskom, we immediately voted against an extremely correct proposal.”
Mbeki believes that this step has widened the already existing gap between the ANC and the people as the public has seen that the ANC refuses to investigate the alleged criminality which has led to the people being burdened with destructive load shedding for a long time.
