‘Phala Phala is Ramaphosa’s private business, not the ANC’s’ Mbeki

Former president Thabo Mbeki has told the public the controversy over the Phala Phala game farm is a private matter belonging to President Cyril Ramaphosa, not an African National Congress (ANC) issue.

ConCourt ruling and next steps

The Constitutional Court recently sent the Section 89 independent panel’s report on the Phala Phala matter back to Parliament, a move that opens the way for an impeachment process to proceed. The report found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa should answer questions about the theft of $580,000 (about R9.6 million) from his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in February 2020.

The EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) had approached the Constitutional Court after Parliament declined to adopt the panel’s report. The president has decided to revive a judicial review of the Section 89 report, a decision that the EFF condemned as an attempt to use legal avenues to avoid accountability.

Mbeki: a private business, not an ANC affair

Mbeki said the ConCourt was correct to rule on the matter and stressed that “President Ramaphosa was correct, this is a private matter between a businessman who’s a farmer and whoever comes and buys and sells from him on his farms.”

“It’s a private matter. It’s not an ANC matter. He’s not trading as an ANC businessman, it’s his own matter, and he’s taken a decision, and I support him. He says the law allows me to challenge this thing. I said, ‘Please go ahead, it’s perfectly okay,’” Mbeki said.

Mbeki named the buyer involved in the cash transaction as Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa, who paid $580,000 (about R9.6 million) in cash to buy 20 buffalo from Ramaphosa. The source account says Mustafa was in Limpopo at the time celebrating Christmas and his wife’s birthday and that he did not know who the buffalo or the farm belonged to.

Parliamentary fallout and ANC divisions

Mbeki said he had written to government leaders after Parliament used its majority to block the Section 89 panel’s report from proceeding to a committee. He described the Constitutional Court’s later decision as vindicating his stance and supported the speaker’s move to constitute a committee to do its work.

The ANC has also struggled internally to meet Parliament’s deadline to submit names of MPs to serve on the Phala Phala impeachment committee. Reports cited disagreement between chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli and secretary‑general Fikile Mbalula over representation and which figures should be nominated. The delay threatens to stall the committee’s work.

The ANC is reported to hold nine seats on the 31‑member committee and was the only party to miss the deadline; other parties including the DA, MK party and EFF had already submitted nominees.

Sources say Ntuli favours experienced MPs from previous ad hoc committees, while Mbalula prefers figures such as Doris Mpapane, Donald Selamolela and Boyce Maneli. Mbalula told journalists: “You will see that list when it’s unveiled in parliament, maybe in the coming week, as to who represents the ANC. I want to keep it like that.”

Political context

Mbeki has been publicly critical of the ANC’s handling of the Phala Phala matter since 2022 and wrote to ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile in early 2023 questioning the party’s use of its parliamentary majority to block the panel report.

For now, Mbeki’s message is simple: in his view, Phala Phala is the president’s private business and should not be conflated with ANC business. He urged Parliament to follow the Constitutional Court’s order and allow the committee process to proceed.