EFF brings the House down during Sona debate

Instead of law-making it was mudslinging in the National Assembly as parliament slid into the slime of gutter politics.

The low blows began when Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema was confronted by ANC MP Boy Mamabolo about a question on whether he (Malema) abused his wife.

Mamabolo insisted Malema undermined all efforts to fight gender-based violence by abusing his own wife, which was against a call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to end women abuse.

Malema initially refused to answer the question and carried on reading his prepared speech, despite the standing question.

When the chair of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo, asked Malema to respond to the question, he said he would answer later because he was “in charge” and running the House. Masondo said he would rule on the matter at a later stage.

Malema then called the ANC members fools. Annoyed ANC politicians raised several points of order against Malema’s statement, demanding that Malema should answer the question.

Finally, he denied ever beating his wife and immediately accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of being the one who beat up his late former wife. He threatened to expose other ANC members who allegedly abused their spouses.

Malema alleged Nomazizi Mtshotshisa, Ramaphosa’s former wife, used to complain to former president Jacob Zuma that Ramaphosa used to beat her.

“Your president abused his wife. I have never abused neither my ex or my wife, I have never beaten up my wife… I have a history of love,” he said.

ANC MPs demanded that Malema be ordered to withdraw his statement that ANC MPs were fools and stop casting aspersions on Ramaphosa. But Malema refused, insisting there was nothing wrong in calling someone a fool and that it was true that the president abused Mtshotshisa.

“I am not going anywhere. You come to me with nonsense? I’ll give you nonsense. I can leave the House, but Nomazizi must rest in peace,” Malema said as he was leaving.

He was followed by all the EFF MPs, some of whom shouted insults as they left. – ericn@citizen.co.za

The DA said:

John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) to President Cyril Ramaphosa:

• “Over the past two years, every significant number has moved in the wrong direction. Economic growth has ground to a halt, direct foreign investment is down, tax revenues are down, crime is up and jobs are being lost in their hundreds of thousands.
• “We have seen mines, retailers and factories close their doors or leave our shores, cutting thousands of precious jobs. We have seen municipality after municipality fail, leaving desperate communities without water, toilets or usable roads.
• “You had your chance to fix it and you blew it. You are not brave enough to take on the unions that hold this country to ransom. And you don’t have the courage to deal decisively with the corrupt people in your own party.
• “While you were telling us how you’ve acted decisively against state capture, the beneficiaries – some of them chairs of portfolio committees – sat in these very benches.
• “And while the country waits with bated breath for the long-promised arrests, we have to learn in a document sent from parliament to the committee on public service that there will be no arrests, prosecutions or orange overalls this year.
• “You also needed to pull the plug on the National Health Insurance, because the NHI is a fantasy that your government simply cannot make work. There is no way we can even begin to raise the additional R280 billion required for the NHI without triggering a flight of both tax revenue and skills that we will never be able to reverse.”

Presidency’s praise:

Jackson Mthembu, minister in the Presidency, said:

• “Late last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the 25-year Review Report.
• “One of the key findings of the report is that while a lot has been done to transform the economy, wealth distribution is skewed, as a result the gap between the rich and the poor remains huge.
• “Unemployment is high due to the grossly imbalanced structure of our economy and this is exacerbated by the skills mismatch prevalent in our country.
• “In May 2019, you announced a reconfigured Cabinet from 36 to 28 ministers, appointing for the first time in South African history, a Cabinet which comprised of 50% women.
• “In an effort to create a larger market for small businesses, we welcome the plan to designate 1,000 locally produced products that must be procured from small, medium and micro-sized enterprises.
• “We are happy to announce that the performance agreements are now ready to be signed as from next week. These will ensure a solid framework for accountability and management.”

The money flows

• Ramaphosa has set a very ambitious target of attracting R1.2 trillion in investments in South Africa over a period of five years, acording to Jackson Mthembu, minister in the presidency.
• The government has in the first two years of its investment drive, raised a total of R664 billion in investment commitments, which is more than half of its five-year target of R1.2 trillion.

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