Cape Town – The government does not interfere with business, President Jacob Zuma said in the National Assembly on Thursday.
"If companies take decisions... government can't come and say, 'You can't do this'," he said.
A shout of "you can" came from the EFF benches. "You can't," Zuma replied.
He was replying to a question from the EFF about allegations platinum miner Lonmin was transferring billions of rands from South Africa to tax havens.
"You can't do anything about it. That is how business is run," he said.
Pointing to deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, EFF leader Julius Malema said: "This man is part of the company stealing money from the people."
Ramaphosa was a Lonmin non-executive director from 2010 until he stepped down in January 2013 after having been elected ANC deputy president the previous December.
Zuma was asked what effect the decision by Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi to revoke Glencore subsidiary Optimum Coal’s mining licence would have on foreign direct investment.
He replied he was "not a sangoma and would not guess".