EFF snub Ramaphosa’s response to Sona debate

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Thursday said it will not be attending President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reply to the debate of his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Cape Town, on Thursday.

“The EFF has long declared that Ramaphosa has failed to lead South Africa in all respects, and this was illustrated lucidly during the submissions of the leadership of the EFF during the debate,” the party said in a statement.

EFF labels Ramaphosa ‘constitutional delinquent’

The red berets disrupted Ramaphosa’s Sona last week Thursday, saying it will not be addressed by a “constitutional delinquent”.

After refusing to allow Ramaphosa to deliver his speech, some EFF members tried to storm the stage. The party’s MPs were then removed from the building.

The EFF insist that the president cannot address Parliament because he had taken it to court. Ramaphosa is challenging the report against him by Parliament’s Section 89 panel on Phala Phala.

“It is Cyril Ramaphosa who has taken his own Parliament to court, because of his determination to cover-up the crimes of money laundering, tax evasion, kidnapping, torture and bribery which were committed at and in relation to Phala Phala Farm. By taking Parliament to court, Ramaphosa has taken the people of South Africa to court for trying to execute accountability,” the EFF said on Thursday.

ALSO READ: EFF is ‘an embarrassment to the nation’, says ANC’s Pemmy Majodina

Ramaphosa ‘failing to lead the country’

The EFF accused Ramaphosa of failing to lead the country, saying the “degeneration” of the economy, public healthcare, education and railway network were evidence of this.

It also blamed him for the high levels of violent crime and unemployment in South Africa.

“It is, therefore, our considered and credible view that Ramaphosa has lost the right to be granted an audience in Parliament, as there is nothing he has to offer in terms of resolving the problems confronting our society,” said the EFF.

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EFF ‘an embarrassment’

On Tuesday, ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said the EFF was an embarrassment to the nation.

“[The] scenes seen here last Thursday, by some parliamentarians heading to confront the president of the Republic of South Africa must be condemned and the Joint Rules [Committee] must take its course.

“These few parliamentarians are an embarrassment to the country and the nation because we are not a violent nation as South Africans. We know how to process our issues,” said Majodina.