President Cyril Ramaphosa has rebuked MPs who criticized him and the African National Congress (ANC), without offering constructive suggestions that could help the country move forward.
Ramaphosa was responding to parliamentarians who, over the past two days, had the opportunity to comment on the president’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered last Thursday.
Among those who harshly criticized Ramaphosa was Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) vice-president Floyd Shivambu, who told the House Ramaphosa had put the country on the back burner.
“Everything that we have made progress will go backwards. We never thought that we would have an electricity crisis. Who ever thought that we would release water? We lost our jobs because of this man. He did the same to the country when he used his first car,” said Shivambu.
Shivambu also gave some suggestions on how the country can end the electricity crisis.
READ MORE: Shivambu says jumping castle should be rented out to ANC MPs after ‘singing for dinner’
Another MP who attacked Ramaphosa was Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, who described Ramaphosa as a failed leader who was “too weak, too insecure and too cowardly” to make bold decisions to move South Africa forward.
The leader of the official opposition party said Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, presided over a “wasteful nine years” in office, while Ramaphosa had presided over a “disastrous five years”.
“If you think we ‘lost some gains’ under Zuma, then under this administration, we have only gained losses,” Steenhuisen said.
Ramaphosa slams ‘desperate traders’
In his response on Thursday, Ramaphosa criticized MPs who, “instead of being merchants of hope, have made themselves merchants of despair”.
“They have determined that their political fortunes are best served by portraying the country in chaos – rather than being a party that acknowledges the challenges and that is determined to work together to find solutions so that no one is left behind,” he said.
“Instead of giving a balanced assessment of the state of the nation, they use dishonest and self-serving rhetoric.
“Instead of acknowledging the serious damage caused to our country by state capture, due to the devastating effects of a global pandemic or the worst public violence in the history of our democracy, some of these Honorable Members have failed to offer practical advice or solutions that could solve the many problems facing our nation .
Also read: ‘Five dangerous years’: Ramaphosa’s ‘new dawn’ turns out to be a false dawn – Steenhuisen
“There are those who choose to belittle and belittle what has been achieved in the last five years in the midst of a very difficult situation because it does not serve their political interests to recognize clear progress.”
Ramaphosa said that while the MPs’ contributions may have satisfied the electoral aspirations of some political parties, they did not serve the interests of South Africans.
“The task we have, as elected representatives, is to come out of this debate with a common determination to meet the challenges of today and renew the promise contained in our Constitution of a better life for all,” he said.
Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe