He said President Cyril Ramaphosa acquired shares in Standard Bank, McDonald\u2019s, and other companies through black empowerment deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, despite becoming a large shareholder in these companies, he lacked knowledge about their industries and did not contribute to their success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPresident Ramaphosa has no idea how a bank makes money, how it is run, or what the risks are,\u201d Mbeki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has no idea how to make a hamburger, how chips are fried, or how to make a McDonald\u2019s milkshake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, despite his lack of knowledge, he became a billionaire through his shareholding in Standard Bank, McDonald\u2019s, and other companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mbeki explained that Ramaphosa and other connected individuals live lavish lifestyles funded by black empowerment deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, despite appearing to be successful businessmen, they lack the knowledge to drive economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter 30 years of people like Cyril Ramaphosa running the economy, we are sitting with 40% unemployment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRamaphosa and his buddies are billionaires, but they have added no value to the South African economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mbeki stated that from the outset, he was opposed to Black Economic Empowerment because it did not generate economic value or create wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTransferring shares from white people to black people does not grow the South African economy,\u201d Mbeki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBEE did not contribute to the South African economy and did not create new wealth. They were distributing the existing wealth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dawie Roodt\u2019s comments on Cyril Ramaphosa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Dawie-Roodt-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nEfficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said Ramaphosa became wealthy through BEE deals rather than launching and building successful businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt said he could not think of a single business Ramaphosa started and built that created his wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, it was easy to identify the businesses that other wealthy individuals had established, which contributed to their wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He referenced Herman Mashaba, who became wealthy by creating the hair product company Black Like Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMashaba became rich by starting and building his own business. I have much more confidence in him running the economy than Cyril Ramaphosa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRamaphosa did not start any businesses. He became rich through all kinds of black economic empowerment deals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt also shared Mbeki\u2019s view that Ramaphosa does not know how to grow the South African economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Ramaphosa\u2019s focus on capital, land, and labour resembles the thinking of communist Karl Marx, which is outdated and damaging to a modern economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt sounds like the president got his economic training in the 1920s. He sounds like Karl Marx, who thinks economic growth centres around capital,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the government\u2019s empowerment objectives should focus on quality education and skills development, as well as creating a business-friendly environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need good quality roads, reliable electricity, good railways and trains, good infrastructure, and a safe environment to run a business,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has been deindustrialising and is losing its factories due to a lack of reliable electricity, poor logistics services, and deteriorating infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt added the idea that increasing wealth by redistributing it through BEE is entirely misguided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClearly, our president does not understand the importance and essence of a modern economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Cyril Ramaphosa became a billionaire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Cyril-Ramaphosa-1024x703.jpg\")
<\/a>President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nCyril Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist and trade union leader, is now one of South Africa\u2019s wealthiest individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is challenging to find credible information about his wealth. However, Forbes Magazine estimated Ramaphosa\u2019s net worth to be around R6.4 billion in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had a rising political career, having been elected ANC secretary general under Nelson Mandela and serving as the ANC\u2019s chief negotiator in the apartheid negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After South Africa\u2019s first democratic elections in 1994, he became chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, with some viewing him as Mandela\u2019s likely successor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he left politics in 1996 and started to capitalise on the emerging business trend, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His primary source of wealth was the Shanduka Group, a pioneering black economic empowerment company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As executive chairman of the group, Ramaphosa facilitated investments across sectors including mining, energy, real estate, and telecommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to his role at Shanduka, he chaired Bidvest for nine years and MTN for over a decade, and from March 2007, Mondi, an international paper and packaging group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, Ramaphosa\u2019s company acquired a 20-year master franchise agreement to operate 145 McDonald\u2019s restaurants in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also became a member of the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board and the Unilever Africa Advisory Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His non-executive directorships included positions at Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes, SABMiller, Lonmin, Anglo American, and Standard Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2014, Shanduka was valued at over R20 billion, with the Ramaphosa family\u2019s Tshivhase Trust as its majority shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa returned to political leadership in 2012 and was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) on 18 December 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He divested from his business interests to avoid conflicts of interest. He stepped down from various boards and sold McDonald\u2019s South Africa to MSA Holdings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2014, after Jacob Zuma\u2019s re-election as state president, Ramaphosa became South Africa\u2019s deputy president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2014, Ramaphosa announced his disinvestment from Shanduka and merged with the black-owned firm Phembani in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Companies which Cyril Ramaphosa owned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-16.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renowned political economist Moeletsi Mbeki says that Cyril Ramaphosa and other politicians don\u2019t know how to grow South Africa\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":825249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22379,22324,20266],"class_list":["post-843349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-black-economic-empowerment-bee","tag-moeletsi-mbeki","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843491,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions\/843491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Dawie-Roodt.jpg\")
<\/a>Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said Ramaphosa became wealthy through BEE deals rather than launching and building successful businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt said he could not think of a single business Ramaphosa started and built that created his wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, it was easy to identify the businesses that other wealthy individuals had established, which contributed to their wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He referenced Herman Mashaba, who became wealthy by creating the hair product company Black Like Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMashaba became rich by starting and building his own business. I have much more confidence in him running the economy than Cyril Ramaphosa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRamaphosa did not start any businesses. He became rich through all kinds of black economic empowerment deals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt also shared Mbeki\u2019s view that Ramaphosa does not know how to grow the South African economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Ramaphosa\u2019s focus on capital, land, and labour resembles the thinking of communist Karl Marx, which is outdated and damaging to a modern economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt sounds like the president got his economic training in the 1920s. He sounds like Karl Marx, who thinks economic growth centres around capital,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the government\u2019s empowerment objectives should focus on quality education and skills development, as well as creating a business-friendly environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need good quality roads, reliable electricity, good railways and trains, good infrastructure, and a safe environment to run a business,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has been deindustrialising and is losing its factories due to a lack of reliable electricity, poor logistics services, and deteriorating infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roodt added the idea that increasing wealth by redistributing it through BEE is entirely misguided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClearly, our president does not understand the importance and essence of a modern economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Cyril Ramaphosa became a billionaire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a>President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nCyril Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist and trade union leader, is now one of South Africa\u2019s wealthiest individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is challenging to find credible information about his wealth. However, Forbes Magazine estimated Ramaphosa\u2019s net worth to be around R6.4 billion in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had a rising political career, having been elected ANC secretary general under Nelson Mandela and serving as the ANC\u2019s chief negotiator in the apartheid negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After South Africa\u2019s first democratic elections in 1994, he became chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, with some viewing him as Mandela\u2019s likely successor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he left politics in 1996 and started to capitalise on the emerging business trend, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His primary source of wealth was the Shanduka Group, a pioneering black economic empowerment company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As executive chairman of the group, Ramaphosa facilitated investments across sectors including mining, energy, real estate, and telecommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to his role at Shanduka, he chaired Bidvest for nine years and MTN for over a decade, and from March 2007, Mondi, an international paper and packaging group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, Ramaphosa\u2019s company acquired a 20-year master franchise agreement to operate 145 McDonald\u2019s restaurants in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also became a member of the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board and the Unilever Africa Advisory Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His non-executive directorships included positions at Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes, SABMiller, Lonmin, Anglo American, and Standard Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2014, Shanduka was valued at over R20 billion, with the Ramaphosa family\u2019s Tshivhase Trust as its majority shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa returned to political leadership in 2012 and was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) on 18 December 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He divested from his business interests to avoid conflicts of interest. He stepped down from various boards and sold McDonald\u2019s South Africa to MSA Holdings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2014, after Jacob Zuma\u2019s re-election as state president, Ramaphosa became South Africa\u2019s deputy president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2014, Ramaphosa announced his disinvestment from Shanduka and merged with the black-owned firm Phembani in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Companies which Cyril Ramaphosa owned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renowned political economist Moeletsi Mbeki says that Cyril Ramaphosa and other politicians don\u2019t know how to grow South Africa\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":825249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22379,22324,20266],"class_list":["post-843349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-black-economic-empowerment-bee","tag-moeletsi-mbeki","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843491,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions\/843491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>Cyril Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist and trade union leader, is now one of South Africa\u2019s wealthiest individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is challenging to find credible information about his wealth. However, Forbes Magazine estimated Ramaphosa\u2019s net worth to be around R6.4 billion in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had a rising political career, having been elected ANC secretary general under Nelson Mandela and serving as the ANC\u2019s chief negotiator in the apartheid negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After South Africa\u2019s first democratic elections in 1994, he became chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, with some viewing him as Mandela\u2019s likely successor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he left politics in 1996 and started to capitalise on the emerging business trend, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His primary source of wealth was the Shanduka Group, a pioneering black economic empowerment company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As executive chairman of the group, Ramaphosa facilitated investments across sectors including mining, energy, real estate, and telecommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to his role at Shanduka, he chaired Bidvest for nine years and MTN for over a decade, and from March 2007, Mondi, an international paper and packaging group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, Ramaphosa\u2019s company acquired a 20-year master franchise agreement to operate 145 McDonald\u2019s restaurants in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also became a member of the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board and the Unilever Africa Advisory Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His non-executive directorships included positions at Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes, SABMiller, Lonmin, Anglo American, and Standard Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2014, Shanduka was valued at over R20 billion, with the Ramaphosa family\u2019s Tshivhase Trust as its majority shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa returned to political leadership in 2012 and was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) on 18 December 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He divested from his business interests to avoid conflicts of interest. He stepped down from various boards and sold McDonald\u2019s South Africa to MSA Holdings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2014, after Jacob Zuma\u2019s re-election as state president, Ramaphosa became South Africa\u2019s deputy president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2014, Ramaphosa announced his disinvestment from Shanduka and merged with the black-owned firm Phembani in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Companies which Cyril Ramaphosa owned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renowned political economist Moeletsi Mbeki says that Cyril Ramaphosa and other politicians don\u2019t know how to grow South Africa\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":825249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22379,22324,20266],"class_list":["post-843349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-black-economic-empowerment-bee","tag-moeletsi-mbeki","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843491,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions\/843491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renowned political economist Moeletsi Mbeki says that Cyril Ramaphosa and other politicians don\u2019t know how to grow South Africa\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":825249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22379,22324,20266],"class_list":["post-843349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-black-economic-empowerment-bee","tag-moeletsi-mbeki","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843491,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843349\/revisions\/843491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}