EFF leader Julius Malema has fired a salvo at President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying he has done nothing during his tenure.
DA leader John Steenhuisen also entered the fray, saying Ramaphosa’s term has been mired in controversy including the energy crisis, unemployment and crime.
But Malema’s was interrupted several times by ANC MPs who questioned his presence in the House after the disruption last Thursday.
National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo ruled them out of order and allowed Malema to continue with his speech
Malema called on Ramaphosa to remove Police Minister Bheki Cele as he has failed to deal with crime.
Malema also accused police officials of working with criminals.
He said what happened to artists DJ Sumbody and AKA may never be known because of poor investigations by the police.
He also slammed the police for intervening when they stormed the stage last Thursday. He said Ramaphosa had said the following day he did not feel threatened.
“We can say boldly Mr Ramaphosa has failed to uphold and defend the Constitution,” said Malema.
“The Constitutional Court has ruled that security forces must stay away from lawmakers. The police must never be allowed inside the Chamber because that is where the Executive is held accountable,” said Malema.
However, Malema’s speech was interrupted by ANC members who called on him to stand down as he had taken Ramaphosa to court.
Steenhuisen described Ramaphosa’s tenure as five wasted years.
He said the presidency of Ramaphosa had limped from one crisis to the next.
“Unemployment has sky-rocketed from 36% to 43% since Mr Ramaphosa became president in 2018. Murder has increased by 20% over the same period, with 70 people murdered in this country every day. And, as we all know, rolling power blackouts have become a permanent feature of life in the Ramaphosa era,” said Steenhuisen.
He added load shedding had worsened over the past two years. The country was now experiencing power cuts every day, which was a serious crisis.
He said the ANC was obsessed with power and this had led to the destruction of entities.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina defended Ramaphosa, saying he was on his way to fix the challenges facing the country.
“When Ramaphosa is fixing the country, that cannot be described as an obsession with power as alleged by Steenhuisen.”
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