SONA debate: Malema calls on Ramaphosa to stand firm against US threats

CAPE TOWN - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has appealed to president Cyril Ramaphosa to stand firm against an onslaught from the United States (US). 

But he’s challenged Ramaphosa to detail exactly how he plans to respond to threats from US president Donald Trump.  

During a debate on Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, Malema said government must not be fooled by the impression that the trump administration is responding to the recently enacted Expropriation Act. 

Malema has lashed out at Ramaphosa’s seven-year presidency as one that has failed to deliver from his 2018 rhetoric of Thuma Mina to the fictional Tintswalo referred to in last year’s address.  

READ: SA ambassador to the US says SA should neither panic nor snub US over Expropriation Act

But he’s agreed with the president on at least one point - that South Africa is not prepared to be bullied by a superpower.  

"We stand on the shoulders of giants who confronted the establishment with their very lives, and we are willing to follow in their footsteps. We are not cowards, and they must not try us," said Malema.  
  
Malema said SA must remain resolute in the face of possible sanctions and that the US is acting out against the country over its genocide case in the International Court of Justice.  
  
"We are saying to you, don’t be misled by people who are saying you are under siege because of expropriation which is a meaningless act. That act does not say anything and they all understand that language." 
  
Malema has again called for the expulsion of the Israeli embassy from South Africa, despite the recall of its ambassador over a year ago.