Malema warns Ramaphosa Phala Phala scandal ‘will never die’

EFF leader Julius Malema warned President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday that the Phalaphala scandal ‘will never die’ as long as the red berets remain in Parliament.. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leaderJulius Malemahas sent a stern warning to President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying that as long as the red berets remain in Parliament, the Phala Phala scandal “will never die.” Malema made the remarks during a joint sitting of theNational Assemblyand the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday afternoon, as MPs debated Ramaphosa’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA). The debate will continue on Wednesday at 2pm, with the president expected to reply on Thursday at 2pm.

“Mr President, we warned you eight years ago that the Oppenheimers and the Rupperts would neutralise you, and your legacy would be that you auctioned our country and its strategic assets to the highest bidder. You did not heed our warning,” Malema said. “You have auctioned our sovereignty to asset management companies such as BlackRock, which is why you have praised the growth of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).” Malema accused Ramaphosa of selling state infrastructure, including ports, railways, and energy generation capacity, to the private sector, and warned that water could be next.

He said the president had failed to take responsibility for creating jobs. “You do not take responsibility for fighting crime. You do not take responsibility for infrastructure development, and you do not take responsibility for growing our economy,” he said.

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“There is no sign of any infrastructure for a bullet train, no design plans for a smart city, and not even a curriculum for the institution of higher learning in Ekurhuleni, as you promised.” Malema said, “You asked us to send you Thumamina, and we made a mistake. And as your term of office comes to an end, you have nothing to show for it.” He criticised Ramaphosa’s handling of crime, saying that deployment of theSouth African National Defence Force(SANDF) to Gauteng and the Western Cape is a last resort.

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