‘Bully ke papago!’ Malema tells Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom
Julius Malema speaks at a media briefing in Braamfontein, 10 April 2019. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
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Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema clapped back at Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom after calling the EFF leader and his deputy Floyd Shivambu “thugs” and “bullies”.
Hanekom commented on a Fin24 report saying former finance minister Trevor Manuel was taking legal action against the EFF over claims it made ahead of the appointment of new Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter.
“Go for it, Trevor. It’s just a matter of time and the Malema and Floyd stories will also come out. It’s time for South Africans to stand up against thugs and bullies,” said Hanekom.
Malema was not pleased with Hanekom, and he took to social media to also voice his opinion.
“Bully ke papago [your father is the bully],” responded the EFF leader, whose clap back left his followers in stitches.
The word “bully” has been thrown around a lot lately in the wake of Kieswetter’s appointment, a move that has been highly criticised by the EFF.
The EFF slammed the process that led to the appointment of Kieswetter as “patently nepotistic” and “corrupt”.
The party had previously objected to the “secret” nature of the appointment process, questioning this in a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa and in questions directed at him and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in parliament.
The EFF’s objections followed Mboweni’s appointment of a panel chaired by Manuel, tasked with recommending a new Sars commissioner following Ramaphosa’s sacking of Tom Moyane, who the EFF’s chairperson Advocate Dali Mpofu worked to defend.
The party branded Kieswetter a “dodgy character” whom they alleged was related to Manuel and was a “close business associate and companion” of his.
It went on to attempt to link Kieswetter to widely discredited allegations concerning an “illegal intelligence unit” established at Sars, the so-called rogue unit.
The party would be exploring legal options in a bid to “invalidate” Kieswetter’s appointment, they said. They want the appointment process “reopened” and subjected to “public scrutiny”.
It also warned Ramaphosa and Mboweni not to get “arrogant” and ignore the EFF’s “logical demands”, or engage in “activities that led to the downfall of [former president] Jacob Zuma”.
In response, Manuel called the EFF “schoolyard bullies” and threatened legal action against the party.
Manuel said in a statement that “the EFF yesterday, in the name of [party spokesperson] Mbuyseni Ndlozi, issued a statement that is as false as it is racist and libellous, against the appointment by President [Cyril] Ramaphosa of Mr Edward Kieswetter, the incoming commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
“Whilst they are free to hold their warped political views about a Sars commissioner for whatever reason, they have no right to libellous or racist views. I am sure that other individuals named in the EFF statement are quite capable of speaking for themselves. I am not intimidated by these bullies to speak on my own behalf,” said Manuel, whose statement was issued by National Treasury.
“Mr Ndlozi needs to provide evidence for the three claims he makes about me,” he said, expressing his scorn that he was supposedly related to Kieswetter.
“Only a mind warped into destruction by apartheid can ever suggest blood ties between two individuals classified Coloured by the apartheid regime, when the only connective tissue is racial classification. The onus now rests on Mr Ndlozi to prove the ties exist.
“Secondly, he claims that I have business relations with Mr Kieswetter. He now has to explain how, through which agency and when these ties were established.
“I can direct him to the CIPC database, where I am sure he will find nothing. The truth of the matter is that Edward and I have not even served on the same non-profit organisation. He has made the claim and the obligation to explain is now in his court.
“Thirdly, he has claimed that I, as minister of finance at the time, appointed Mr Kieswetter as the Sars deputy commissioner. If he had read the Sars Act or the Nugent Commission report, he might know that the minister of finance possesses no such powers. He has to retract this forthwith.”
The former minister finished with accused Ndlozi of issuing “a series of scurrilous statements about Mr Kieswetter, that I am sure Mr Kieswetter can as easily refute. What I demand is a retraction, or Mr Ndlozi will have to face legal action. I will not be abused by schoolyard bullies.”