“What a change a week can make,” marvelled one foreign diplomat, exiting the National Assembly gallery after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first State of the Nation Address.It was a sentiment being expressed in various forms all over Parliament’s precinct.
Ramaphosa’s mentions of a crackdown on corruption caused mocking cries of “Aaaaaaace” from the EFF caucus, in reference to ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule and his supporters’ war cry. When the president said that the country’s law enforcement agencies should prosecute “any and all acts of corruption”, EFF MPs mimed handcuffs at their counterparts among the ANC ranks.And when President Ramaphosa affirmed his commitment to the principle of land expropriation without compensation, EFF MPs stood up and danced in their seats. To the right, the MPs of the Freedom Front Plus sat stony-faced, taking detailed notes.
The EFF gave Ramaphosa an easy ride. A line in his speech about deaths in the mining industry – “one mining fatality is one too many” – would have seemed certain to cause reminders from the Fighters about Marikana, the issue they have previously been determined that Ramaphosa should not forget as his legacy at Lonmin. On this occasion, they let it go.
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