‘I’m sorry,’ Cyril Ramaphosa tells Julius Malema

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

He also apologised to South Africans for the heated exchange where 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 in parliament on Thursday , towards the end of his response to the two-day state of the nation address debate.

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,” Ramaphosa said to loud applause from MPs.

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

He said that Malema first raised the unsubstantiated allegation 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 [gender-based violence].

“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 the people, all of us, must stand up and engage in the fight against [the scourge]  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 [the scourge]  we do it with great sensitivity towards them and their families,” he said.

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.”

Another message read: “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 has condemned suggestions  by the FW de Klerk Foundation that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, saying such utterances were tantamount to treason.

De Klerk, apartheid SA’s last leader, controversially expressed the same view as his foundation in an interview with the SABC recently, suggesting that apartheid was not a grand-scale crime and could not be compared to genocide.

Earlier this week, the FW de Klerk Foundation retracted its controversial statement and also apologised on behalf of the former president, after being widely condemned.