WATCH | Vusi Thembekwayo tells politicians where to get off

Businessman Vusi Thembekwayo did not mince his words when he publicly called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to end the lockdown.

In an emotive video that went viral on social media, the multimillionaire took his followers on a virtual tour of an abandoned office space in Sandton, Johannesburg, where the 70 people who once worked there have lost their jobs due to the economic affect of Covid-19.

He does not name the company.

Pointing to the now glaringly empty desks and chairs, Thembekwayo, a venture capitalist, global business speaker and serial entrepreneur, said people’s lives, salaries, incomes, pensions, and their desire to provide for their families had all been destroyed.

He said people, particularly politicians, were simply standing on the sidelines, watching it happen.

The video was lauded by his followers, with many calling for “#VusiForPresident”.

But politics is clearly not something he has his mind set on.

“Particularly those dumb f***ing politicians who annoy the s**t out of me, right, to those people I want to say this is the effect of the economic impact of that thing you keep doing called lockdown,” he said.

While people were losing their lives due to Covid-19, he said, the now empty chairs also represented people’s lives.

“This is now a death zone. This is happening [to] hundreds of thousands of [people] as we speak right now.”

He said destroying the economy further was not going to help the health crisis.

“So mister politician, mister lock down the country, mister let me tweet and get 500 retweets, where the f**k are you now?

“Where are you when these people have to return home to their children and tell them that they can’t [afford to] take them to school any more or buy groceries any more? Where are you now?”

He said millions in salaries, and millions more hopes and dreams had been lost.

“People don’t understand the economic effect for s**t. What that means is that for every person who had a job here, there was a home loan, a car loan, a loan for their children to go to school, there was a credit card ... there was building or renovating your home.

“So politicians, where are you now? Quiet now, huh? Nothing to say now, huh?

“All you do is call conferences and you talk about the economy and people who are dying. This is the effect of your stupidity over the past 26 years. You did this.

“Because if you had built a country that was inclusive with an economy that was growing, we could have survived this s**t. But you guys were too busy making sure that you were eating at the trough. Making sure  that your pockets are lined.”

He said the Neanderthals on the other side of the debate, on the opposition side, were meanwhile too busy trying to earn votes.

Thembekwayo said he would apologise for his use of strong language, but for the first time he had felt it necessary.

He believed the world would be a better place without politicians in it.

“I don’t think I have ever been sad to the point where I am angry. I am angry. This is bad.

“If I hear one more person in a government department tell me the economy should still be in lockdown, I am going to slap you through Facebook.

“You are saying that because you are earning your salary.

“And all these people working in big corporates; in insurance companies and banks, you are saying it is going to be fine because you are getting paid your full salary.”

He said small and medium-sized businesses that provided for millions of South Africans every day were the real economy.

But these were the people going without a salary — and soon they would be without food.

“And I hope that your conscience can sleep with the dumbness of your statements.

“Somebody tell Cyril that he better step the f**k up. No more speeches, no more jokes with masks.”

Thembekwayo said generally when he posted videos he tried to have solutions, but he had no solution for this.

“There is no solution to this. It is done.”