WATCH: McKenzie defends GNU, questions whether EFF ‘can be taken seriously’

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader and Minister of  Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has slammed the Economic freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, saying South Africa is going to have the best five years under the government of national unity (GNU).

This comes after the red berets leader said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening of parliament address lacked substance and that Ramaphosa is a “wounded buffalo.”

Ramaphosa delivered the opening of parliament address at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday.

Watch Gayton McKenzie criticising the EFF

[WATCH] "The EFF said they're the government in waiting. We are still waiting for them to come into government. I've even overtaken them." – PA leader and Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/snAwBy9bRN

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 18, 2024

‘Wounded buffalo’

While Ramaphosa’s former detractors, now turned government of national unity (GNU) partners, sang his praises and welcomed the address, opposition parties, including the EFF, labelled the speech as “appalling incessant lies”.

“You can see that he is a wounded buffalo. We told you South Africa, we will eat this elephant piece by piece and you saw it for yourself,” Malema said.

“That confidence and arrogance of February has gone through the window and today, the man speaks like a man who has got no confidence and belief in what he’s talking about. I won’t be shocked tomorrow if I’m told that speech was written by Helen Zille because the DA kept on clapping until the last full stop,” said Malema.

“You can see THAT President Cyril Ramaphosa is a wounded Buffalo, we told you South Africa will eat this elephant piece by piece” EFF President Julius Malema

“The man speaks like a man who has got no Confidence and believe in what he's talking about, I won't be shocked tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/vP5wzmrOzp

— News Live SA (@newslivesa) July 18, 2024

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‘Can we take EFF seriously’

However, McKenzie claimed the EFF are just bitter and are “still a government in waiting”.

“South Africa is going to have the best five years. The EFF say the GNU is not going to last. Can we really take them seriously? The EFF said they’re the government in waiting. We are still waiting for them to come into government. I’ve even overtaken them.”

Malema criticised Ramaphosa, saying he had been discussing beneficiation since he took over the ANC in 2017 and the government in 2018 and that his speech was a “waste of state resources”.

“We have not seen anything of that sort. You can talk about strengthening state-owned enterprises. They have collapsed under them. They create a crisis and then come back to us and say, ‘we can fix it’.

“He said nothing on international relations because he knows that it is a point of disagreement in this GNU and that once you go there, you are going to fight immediately, especially in relation to Palestine. They don’t see eye to eye on those matters.”

Malema also questioned the existence of the 2 million jobs that Ramaphosa said his government had created.

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