Phosa: Hitachi an ANC issue

2010-04-17 22:32

Johannesburg - ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa said the decision to sell the party's stake in Hitachi Power Africa should be taken by the ruling party not its invesment arm Chancellor House, the Sunday Times reported on Saturday.

Phosa told the newspaper that party general secretary Gwede Mantashe was "not a businessman, he doesn't know. He says the matter must go to the board, but that's not true," he told the newspaper.

"People who know about these things know that it is a shareholder issue."

This after ANC general secretary Gwede Matashe contradicted Phosa's earlier statement that the ruling party would pull out of Hitachi Power Africa, which stood to benefit from a contract with Eskom.

Phosa told the newspaper that he had spoken to chairperson of the ANC's investment arm Chancellor House Trust, Popo Molefe who agreed with him.

When Molefe denied having agreed with the withdrawal, Phosa accused him of being "less than frank."

- SAPA