News24.com | Mbeki stands his ground on Phala Phala criticism in 'robust and cordial' meeting with top ANC leaders

Thabo Mbeki is seen at the memorial service of ANC Deputy Secretary-General, Yasmin Jessie Duarte at Joburg City Hall in Johannesburg.

• ANC officials met with former president Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday evening. 
• Mbeki is said to have stood by his criticism of the ANC for protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa on the Phala Phala saga. 
• The meeting came after Mbeki penned a letter condemning the party. 

The meeting between the ANC's top officials and former president Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday evening has been described as "robust and cordial". 

News24 understands that Mbeki defended his public criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa during the meeting with the ANC leaders at Luthuli House. 

The former president stuck to his guns, insisting that the party could not use its majority to protect Ramaphosa from answering questions related to his involvement in the theft of US dollars from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo, an insider said. 

The meeting came after Mbeki penned a strongly-worded letter where he suggested that the ANC used its majority in Parliament to vote against any investigations into the Phala Phala saga because it suspected Ramaphosa had done something wrong. 

In the letter addressed to ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile, Mbeki said the party had wanted to protect Ramaphosa "at all costs".

In a statement following the meeting, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the meeting had discussed Mbeki’s letter in a "comradely and collegial spirit". 

"Amongst the key areas of discussion was the matter of constitutional democracy, including the role of parliamentary oversight and how these need to be managed. It is the considered view of the ANC that when all three arms of the state work in step with one another, any matter of national interest gets to be fully ventilated," she said. 

READ | Top ANC leader calls on Mbeki to use his 'wisdom' to 'counsel', rather than criticise Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa was not present at the meeting on Tuesday evening. 

In the scathing letter, Mbeki asked why the ANC in Parliament had blocked any investigation into the Phala Phala saga, which he likened to the "Nkandla matter" involving former president Jacob Zuma.

He cited the ANC's decision in December to use its majority in the National Assembly to vote against the establishment of an impeachment committee following the report of an independent panel which found that Ramaphosa had a case to answer on the matter.

Mbeki wrote:

Former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo found that Ramaphosa had a case to answer regarding the break-in and theft of $580 000 (about R10 million) from his game farm Phala Phala in February 2020.

But the ANC used its majority in Parliament to block an inquiry into the saga.

An ANC insider with knowledge of the meeting said ANC officials did not butt heads with Mbeki in the meeting.

"They heard him out, and he lectured them about the importance of accountability and parliamentary oversight," the source said. 

Bhengu-Motsiri said the meeting discussed the matter of constitutional democracy, including the role of parliamentary oversight and how these needed to be managed.

"It is the considered view of the ANC that, when all three arms of the state work in step with one another, any matter of national interest gets to be fully ventilated," she said.