The African National Congress (ANC) will not be deterred by naysayers such as South African billionaire Johann Rupert, the party said on Thursday.

The party was responding to reports that Rupert had said that radical economic transformation was "just a code word for theft".

ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said: "This statement is disingenuous and extremely opportunistic."

According to a Fin24 report, Rupert, who was speaking on the sidelines of Richemont's annual general meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, also said: "That's what's happening there. They're raiding the state's coffers. And it's public knowledge."

Kodwa said: "The black majority is locked into a cycle of serving only as cheap labour that is super-exploited for the purposes of capital accumulation by a white minority.

Condemnation 'betrays his ill-gotten privilege'

"This has resulted in a systemic trap of an over-concentration of economic assets in the hands of white people and a systematic exclusion of successive generations of black people from sustainable economic livelihood."

The ANC spokesperson said it was these "racialised economic relations" that had produced the generational wealth of the Rupert family.

"Thus, his arrogant condemnation of the important discussion about economic transformation in our country betrays his ill-gotten privilege."

Kodwa said the ANC would unapologetically continue to lead South Africans and would not be deterred by "naysayers such as Rupert".

The ANC advised Rupert "to desist from derogatory, unfounded statements based on his innate inclination to preserve privilege and prosperity for a few".