North West - Businessman and ANC heavyweight Cyril Ramaphosa could be called before the Marikana Commission of Inquiry over a series of explosive e-mails between him and Lonmin executives on the eve of the police killing of 34 miners.
While commission secretary and spokesman advocate Kevin Malunga said that at this stage Ramaphosa was not a witness, he added: “There is nothing stopping any of the legal representatives from seeking a subpoena for him to appear.”
It was the opening shot of advocate Dali Mpofu, representing the more than 270 miners initially arrested for murdering fellow miners, which revealed a series of e-mails highlighting behind-the-scenes political connectivity as Lonmin battled the unprotected labour protest over a R12 500 monthly wage, which had by then left 10 people dead, including two mine security guards and two policemen.
Mpofu described the August 16 police killings, widely dubbed the Marikana massacre, as the result of “toxic collusion” between the SA Police Service and Lonmin – and “at a broader level between the state and capital”.
He cited an e-mail sent at 2.58pm, “exactly 24 hours before people were mowed down”, from Ramaphosa, a non-executive Lonmin director, to the company’s chief commercial officer Albert Jamieson, in which the wildcat strike was described as “plainly dastardly criminal acts [which] must be characterised as such”, needing “concomitant action”.
“You are absolutely correct in insisting that the minister, and indeed all government ministers, need to understand that we are dealing with essentially a criminal act. I have said as much to the minister of safety and security [Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa],” Mpofu read from Ramaphosa’s correspondence. Ramaphosa also indicated he would speak to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, and that he had contacted Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu.
“The e-mails come from the Lonmin documents... [They are] not some e-mails we got through some espionage,” Mpofu added.
Political analyst Adam Habib said the e-mails were not normal interaction between two businessmen.
“In the normal course of business, the businessman is not sitting in the highest ranks of the ANC… [with] access to ministers [of police and mineral resources]... That’s why you can’t treat it as a normal business matter,” Habib said. “It exposes the collusion of big business and the ruling party.”
This week Ramaphosa, also Shanduka executive chairman, the police ministry and the ANC declined to respond. The mineral resources ministry also did not respond to requests for comment.
“As the statements made... form part of the proceedings of a judicial commission of inquiry, Mr Ramaphosa will not at this stage be making any public comment on the matter,” his office said.
The e-mails come as a political body blow to Ramaphosa, who has been nominated on President Jacob Zuma’s slate by ANC branches in several provinces as Zuma’s deputy, should the incumbent Kgalema Motlanthe choose to oppose Zuma for the top job.
Just last month, Ramaphosa apologised publicly for unsuccessfully bidding R19.5 million for a buffalo cow called Tanzania: “It was a mistake to even put up my hand to do so... It is a mistake in the sea of poverty... The damage has been done, I will live with it,” Ramaphosa told SAfm.
Ramaphosa’s directorship in Lonmin, and the bid, were raised in the wake of the Marikana killings, but exploded into widespread public criticism, and sparked unfavourable mentions of Ramaphosa’s Shanduka making available R2m for the dead miners’ funerals.
ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said the party did not “want to prejudice the process” of the commission of inquiry, adding that as the matter had been raised before the commission, that was the appropriate place to deal with it. The police ministry responded similarly.
Lonmin said it had engaged with “appropriate state authorities” to ensure a return to normality.
“Lonmin is a mining company and is not responsible for law enforcement.
“It therefore stands to reason that the company, including members of its board, would communicate with the relevant stakeholders in government to ensure that they properly understood the company’s view of the situation on the ground to ensure a peaceful resolution of the matter,” it said in a statement.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Frans Baleni came out in defence of Ramaphosa, telling SAfm there was no conflict of interest because Ramaphosa would always remain its former general secretary, even though he was now in business.
Earlier in August, even before the e-mails were sent, NUM publicly acknowledged it had contacted Mthethwa, and other ministers and ANC heavyweights, over the Marikana wildcat strike.
Saturday Star