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By Carien Du Plessis
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille should think about the man she is sleeping with before calling other people "inkwenkwe", or "uncircumcised boys", says ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa.
In what is fast turning into a mud-slinging match between the parties, Phosa referred to off-the-cuff remarks made by Zille in KwaNobuhle, near Port Elizabeth, at the weekend, when she used this isiXhosa word in referring to ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.
Zille was responding to remarks reportedly made by Malema on Saturday at an ANC rally in Cato Manor, near Durban, when he called her a "racist, colonialist and imperialist", and said DA deputy Joe Seremane's "role is to smile at the madam every time".
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Phosa said an inkwenkwe was the lowest possible thing that you could call a man in isiXhosa.
"What she says is that he is uncircumcised. What if we say that about her husband, because he is not circumcised.
"Malema is not circumcised, but let us not go there, let's keep it decent. We think the call is more an electioneering stunt," Phosa said.
"She stooped very low in her response, very low. It means that she is not able to take the punches that we do. She is hysterical. As a leader, she went below the bar with her response," he said.
Phosa said the ANC would respond to Zille's remarks in a similar way, "to try to make her aware that if you throw mud, there's a lot of mud around. Anyone can throw mud."
He said the DA was playing people, and not policies, but he denied that Malema had done the same in his remarks.
DA Youth leader Khume Ramulifho on Sunday slammed Malema for referring to him with "the perversely racist term 'garden boy'", saying "Malema has also once again shown himself to be a petty little man who is unable to engage in meaningful debate".
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on February 24, 2009
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