What did Madiba see in you that we can’t see? Malema asks Ramaphosa

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has ripped apart President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address, saying he gave opposition parties nothing to debate on.

Malema started off by thanking EFF voters and vowed to make it worthwhile.

“You have not wasted your vote. We will make sure parliament remains a house with teeth that bite, particularly at incompetent, mediocre, and corrupt fat cats who are permanently sleeping on duty and only wake up on payday or the day of stealing. As expected, we’re starting today to hold the executive accountable,” he said.

He then moved on to Ramaphosa’s Sona, expressing disappointment at an address that came from a man “who held the ambition to be president for almost three decades”.

“We really have no Sona to debate. What we have is a misguided, incoherent, contradictory, and proven-to-be-futile ideas mixed in a bag of fantasies.”

Malema said that even though American media mogul Oprah Winfrey spoke for Ramaphosa before the elections, the president failed to represent himself during his Sona and consequently disappointed those who voted for him.

“We were abused here during the election campaign that saw people like Oprah Winfrey rented and sneaked into the country in the name of the Global Citizen Festival to come and tell us how Madiba wanted you, Mr President, to be president. After your speech, we now ask ourselves ‘what did Madiba see in you that we can’t see?’

“Your speech did not inspire confidence and hope among poor, young and old people of South Africa. Your own benches here were not moved at all, hence they couldn’t sing a song in salutation of your tired speech. You didn’t recover any of the lost votes. If anything, those who voted for you are now regretting because they wasted their votes on a president without a plan.”

The EFF leader criticised the president for failing to speak to the African continent. This despite the massacre in Sudan, the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, and the terrorism in Kenya.

“You couldn’t render a message of solidarity and hope to the Palestinian people who live under apartheid Israel and to the people of Venezuela who are fighting against imperialism,” he said.

According to Malema, Ramaphosa failed to tell South Africans what he would do differently from the ANC of the past 25 years and was not brave enough to repeat his manifesto promises.

“Your speech was limited to four points: Fighting corruption, fighting crime, and asking black people to pay electricity and getting 10-year-olds to read to understand.”

He further slated Ramaphosa’s response – or lack of – to the incident in which he was stuck on a train during when he was campaigning. Instead of coming with “real” solutions, “the billionaire president was so traumatised that he now fantasised about a bullet train from Musina to Cape Town”.

He accused Ramaphosa of turning back on the resolutions his party made.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.