Shivambu recommends Cyril Ramaphosa for Saftas ‘Best Fiction Award’

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu is one of the MPs who did not hold back on his criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday.

MPs debated Ramaphosa’s plan of action at the Cape Town City Hall on Friday, following his address on Thursday.

Shivambu’s first item in his debate was to acknowledge former president Jacob Zuma, who was in parliament.

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“Let me do what should have been done by now and acknowledge the presence of former president Jacob Zuma,” said Shivambu.

Shivambu on GNU

Shivambu further reiterated the EFF’s rejection of the government of national unity. He said Ramaphosa should have only invited “forces whose umbilical cords are buried in the same yard”.

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“Maybe we’re wrong to believe we share a common heritage and perspective with those who chose to constitute the government with colonial forces.

“Instead of constituting a progressive government, the president of the ANC assembled a bloated executive of Oppenheimer puppets, semi-literate matriculants, apartheid apologists, ex-convicts, waffling careerists and call them a government of national unity,” said Shivambu.

“This is what we’re dealing with now. As if that is not enough, he came here yesterday and called them birds. So we’re being led by a government of weaver birds, known for building sophisticated nests.

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“But one thing you must know about birds is that only those with the same feathers flock together.

“However sophisticated and beautiful the nest that they build will be, they will never even allow the most peaceful of bird, a dove, to enter that nest. So these weaver birds that you’re bragging about here will always associate with themselves.”

Hlophe agrees with Shivambu

The same sentiment was shared by John Hlophe, the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party chief whip. Hlophe earlier said that the GNU should not have been established.

He called it “a singularly very cruel joke by the Ramaphosa faction of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance”.

Although Ramaphosa called on political parties to join the GNU for “nation building”, Hlophe said the president only formed the GNU because he was desperate to hold on to power.

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“If the ANC formed the so-called GNU on the basis that it was the largest party, you ask yourself, why was that principle not extended to the province of KZN? It’s a fact that MK party won KZN convincingly,” said Hlophe.

“A GNU is formed when there is a crisis. The only crisis is that the ANC has lost the majority.”

Hlophe said the GNU would not be able to address the challenges of poor South Africans unless the legacy of apartheid and colonialism is addressed.

Ramaphosa for Saftas award

Shivambu further slammed Ramaphosa for recycling the same promises made years earlier. He said the president was clearly selling a fictitious story to South Africans.

He jokingly called for the president to be nominated for a South African Film and Television Award.

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“On 15 July 2024, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) issued a call for South Africans to nominate people who must receive the award for the South African Film and Television Awards. I want to propose that we should nominate Cyril Ramaphosa for Saftas for Best Fiction.

“If there is no such category we must introduce a category of a lifetime achiever award on fiction because everything that he represents is just fiction. The NFVF, Gayton McKenzie, is a very important instrument in your department. Before you introduce the sporting code of spinning mostly stolen cars, you should pay attention to the NFVF.

“So this person deserves a lot of awards. The closing date is 9th August. Let’s nominate him.”