22-05-2025
MK Party questions why Trump didn't address Ramaphosa's $580,000 Phala Phala scandal
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela has branded President Ramaphosa a fugitive from justice, saying US authorities should have questioned and investigated him over the Phala Phala dollar scandal.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/IOL
Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party )spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa following his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling him a 'fugitive from justice' in connection with the Phala Phala farm scandal.
Ndhlela said Ramaphosa should have been held accountable for the undisclosed dollars found on his property (farm) in 2020 and questioned under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
''What you have there sitting next to Donald Trump is a fugitive from justice. What should be happening is that they should be prosecuting him and asking him to respond to how all those dollars ended up in his couch. This is what should be happening because they are sitting with a person who has caused criminality, and that farm of his is a crime scene,'' ' Ndhlela said in an interview with the SABC.
This comes after the party had previously urged US authorities, under the Trump administration, to launch an investigation into the Phala Phala farm robbery, in which an estimated $580,000 was allegedly stolen.
Ndhlela also questioned the timing of Ramaphosa's US trip, implying it was strategically planned to avoid key political responsibilities.
'He chose these three dates deliberately. On Monday, the Phala Phala case began,he was meant to be in court but was absent. Today, during the budget vote, again, he was nowhere to be seen,' said Ndhlela.
Drawing comparisons with past South African presidents, he added:'If President Zuma can attend court, and President Mandela could attend court in 1996, why can't Ramaphosa? He is not above the law.'
He noted that party has long argued that the Phala Phala incident constitutes international financial misconduct and should be investigated by US authorities, particularly the FBI.
'The crime he committed on his farm was dollar-based. If there's any undeclared money, especially in the form of US dollars, that's a matter for international scrutiny,' Ndhlela said.
He also dismissed the Ramaphosa–Trump meeting as 'an act of subservience.'
'This is the act of a black man running to his white imperial bosses for assistance. It's disgraceful,' he said.
Moreover, Ndhlela rejected Trump's controversial claims about "white genocide" in South Africa, calling such statements 'desperate acts' intended to preserve minority privilege.
'If there is any genocide to be spoken of, it is apartheid. Not the fiction Trump is peddling.'
Addressing remarks by DA leader John Steenhuisen, who suggested the Government of National Unity (GNU) was established to sideline parties like the MK Party and the EFF, Ndhlela defended his party's policies:
'Since when is free education a crime? Since when is nationalising the Reserve Bank a criminal idea?'
He added that an MK-led government would have handled diplomatic relations with the US more effectively:'We would have dealt with this issue through the proper diplomatic channels, not with subservience, but with sovereignty and integrity.'
Calling for Ramaphosa's immediate resignation, Ndhlela announced that the MK Party will pursue a motion of no confidence against the president.
'What we expect is that when he lands, he submits his letter of resignation. This cannot continue. South Africa is not a banana republic.'
Responding to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula's praise of Ramaphosa's US trip on X (formerly Twitter) where he wrote, 'Well done to Team South Africa for representing our country and putting the record straight,' Ndhlela dismissed the statement as nothing more than political flattery.
'He's just singing for his supper,' Ndhlela said.
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