'I'm sorry,' says Ramaphosa to Malema after wife-abuse claim in parliament

President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised to EFF leader Julius Malema for allegations made by ANC MP Boy Mamabolo that he was abusing his wife, Mantoa.

He also apologised to South Africans for the heated exchange in which male MPs accused each other and Ramaphosa of being women abusers, saying it was unjust, unnecessary and inconsiderate to use gender-based violence to fight political battles.

Ramaphosa addressed Malema towards the end of his response to the two-day state of the nation address (Sona) debate in parliament on Thursday.

He also called for a truce between former political allies Malema and Mamabolo.

“My heart goes out to Mantoa and your family, Honourable Malema,” he said, before adding: “I do hope that my member of parliament on this side (Mamabolo) O tla beya marumo fatshe ntwa e fele (will put down his weapons so the battle can end).”

Turning to Malema, he said: “And Honourable Malema, as the allegation was made against you, I felt for Mantoa, your wife, because it was uncalled for, I must say. It was improper. It was not correct for it to be raised, and if I can offer an apology to you about this, I would like to because it was uncalled for,” said Ramaphosa to loud applause from MPs.

However, the president also responded to claims by Malema on Tuesday — day one of the Sona debate — that Ramaphosa was a wife beater.

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He said that Malema first raised this about three years ago.

“He raised it in 2017 and said that the president used to assault his first wife. Hope Ramaphosa. Now, Hope Ramaphosa responded and said that is not true.

“You have raised the issue of my late former wife Nomazizi. She is not here to respond for herself,” he said.

Ramaphosa said, in reference to a text message he received from a young woman upset at how gender-based violence was used as a political tool, that “we should not resort to using issues such as these, as it was used also against you, to politicise and to trivialise an important issue that affects so many women in our country”.

“All of us need to engage in this struggle against GBV. I want to say, I am a father of daughters, I am a grandfather of granddaughters, I am a husband, I am a brother to a sister, and I also have 50% of the people in the cabinet who are women, and we also have South Africans, the majority of whom are women — and these are the people all of us must stand up [for] and engage in the fight against GBV in our lifetime.

“As we do it, we must have respect for one another and show respect for the women of our country; that as we do what we have to do to engage in this fight against GBV we do it with great sensitivity towards them and their families,” he said.

Malema wanted to respond to Ramaphosa but was shut down by the presiding officers. All he managed to say is that his wife was insulted in front of Ramaphosa during Sona and again five days later, but nobody objected or said anything.

He claimed the objections only came when he made the allegations against Ramaphosa.

Earlier in his response Ramaphosa spoke about the “exchange” that took place in parliament on Tuesday, saying it had led to some in the country sending text messages to him raising their concerns.

Reading out one of the texts, he said: “Dear President, I text you with a very heavy heart. I am most saddened as a woman. The use of gender-based violence as grist for the gossip mill in your parliament is one that has weighed heavily on me. The weaponisation of GBV is an insult to the millions of women who are victims of this national crisis.

“I dream of a nation where our leaders use the platform to speak about solutions on GBV, gender inequality and femicide as opposed to using it to settle political scores. This social crisis is a reality for many women, not just in our country but all over the globe.

“The mention of a person who has passed away in parliament yesterday evening was unjust, unnecessary and very spine chilling. It was raw and inconsiderate. I am deeply saddened by the manner in which the events unfolded.”

Ramaphosa said this text summed up the feelings of many people over what had happened.

“We owe the people of SA an apology for what happened in this debate. Let us agree that we should never again allow such an important issue to be used in this way and reaffirm our shared and unwavering commitment to use all means at our disposal to end gender-based violence and femicide,” he said.