'Waar was jy?' Ramaphosa rebukes Malema over OPA debate comments
On Friday, Malema called Ramaphosa a wounded buffalo, and said the ANC’s partnership with the DA in the Government of National Unity was a sell-out position.
EFF leader Julius Malema listens as President Cyril Ramaphosa replies to the debate on the Opening of Parliament address, 22 July 2024. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has given Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema a dressing down in Parliament on Monday and encouraged him to learn more about the country’s history from the African National Congress (ANC)'s senior leaders.
Responding on Monday to the debate on his Opening of Parliament Address, Ramaphosa appealed to Malema to desist from personal attacks on him and his family.
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On Friday, Malema called Ramaphosa a wounded buffalo and said the ANC’s partnership with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Government of National Unity was a sell-out position.
Concluding his hour-long reply to the parliamentary debate, Ramaphosa reserved his final comments for Malema.
He took umbrage at Malema labelling him an apartheid collaborator.
"In our debates in Parliament, it’s important, Honourable Malema, that as we debate, we should play the ball, and not the man."
Ramaphosa suggested that Malema speak to former mining unionists like Minister Gwede Mantashe and Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele for a better understanding of how the National Union of Mineworkers was formed.
"The question I would ask is: 'Waar was jy?' Where were you?"
As EFF members heckled "Marikana" at the president, Ramaphosa said he was also proud to be the son of a policeman, despite the negative inferences Malema sought to make about this in a previous debate.
Ramaphosa also reminded Malema that he had never insulted any of Malema’s family members.