Former president Thabo Mbeki. Picture: Timothy Bernard/African News Agency (ANA)
Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - EFF leader Julius Malema has launched a scathing attack on former president Thabo Mbeki, saying he had no moral authority to call out President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership failures because he endorsed him four years ago.
Mbeki dropped a bombshell during the ANC’s national memorial service for the late ANC deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, at the Johannesburg City Hall on Thursday.
“There is no national plan to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. It doesn’t exist. To serve the people requires that we address this. Comrade President Cyril Ramaphosa, when he delivered the state of the nation address in February, said, ‘In a hundred days there must be (an agreement) to a comprehensive social compact to address this matter’. Nothing has happened. Nothing,” said Mbeki, to loud cheers in the city hall.
Mbeki had premised his speech on allegations of forces that had infiltrated the “liberation movement”, to weaken it and make it lose the support of the masses.
His remarks caused a political storm and were widely circulated on social media, with some self-confessed Ramaphosa supporters admitting that they finally accept that Ramaphosa is not the leader they had expected him to be.
During the memorial, Mbeki was sitting next to Deputy President David Mabuza, who Malema has labelled an “incoming president” to replace Ramaphosa when he is forced to step down over the Phala Phala scandal.
But addressing the Student Command elective conference in Boksburg on Saturday, Malema did not have kind words for Mbeki. “This country is in the hands of dogs … Ramaphosa is Rupert’s dog. We need to remove this guy, but Mbeki is not the alternative Zuma is not the alternative. The EFF is …
“The ANC must die a painful death. The ANC must feel the pain our people have felt for more than 20 years under the uncaring leadership of the ANC. When a president is caught with cash under a mattress and in sofas, must we debate that with people who claimed to have a high moral standard during Zuma’s term?”
Malema questioned why Ramaphosa was putting the country through so much pain when he could simply resign. “There shouldn’t be a debate about whether Cyril must resign or not. It’s automatic. We have caught the thief with the stolen items. For a president to be compromised like that and caught with his pants down. He still wants to pretend he was caught with his clothes on when it’s clear he’s naked.
“Thabo Mbeki wants to speak like a moral authority after he said we must allow Cyril to explain the theft. The office (of the Presidency) must be protected with everything. Whether Ramaphosa is wrong or right, the way he acted is wrong. It was pure gangsterism.”
Malema was referring to former SSA director-general Arthur Fraser opening a criminal case against Ramaphosa, accusing him of kidnapping, torture, money laundering and defeating the ends of justice.
Fraser alleged Ramaphosa’s head of security Major General Wally Roode unlawfully detained and interrogated a domestic worker at the Phala Phala farm and later used state resources to secretly pursue the burglary suspects. Independent Media recently reported that Roode admitted to some of Fraser’s claims on the unlawful pursuit of suspects in Namibia and South Africa on Ramaphosa’s instructions in response to the Public Protector probing the Phala Phala matter.
Attempts to get comment from the Thabo Mbeki Foundation were unsuccessful.
Pretoria News