Johannesburg - Reported remarks by ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa about “boers” returning to power were racist and would not be dismissed lightly, the FFPlus said on Monday.
“Apart from the fact that such a statement is not based on any real facts, it is also racist and polarising,” Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder said in a statement on Monday.
“It is clear from this how deep in trouble the ANC is with their impatient voters. Because Mr Ramaphosa is second in charge of the ANC, these remarks cannot be lightly dismissed.”
The Star reported that Ramaphosa urged Limpopo residents to vote or the “boers” would take back power.
“If you don't vote, the boers will come back to control us,” Ramaphosa apparently said in Seshego.
He was speaking to disgruntled resident Johanna Phala, 49, who had vowed not to vote in next year's elections because the African National Congress had disappointed her.
The unemployed single mother of three blamed the high unemployment rate on the ANC and said she had lost hope in the party.
Ramaphosa asked her to reconsider her anger towards the ANC-led government.
He was in Seshego, the hometown of Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, to drum up party support.
“If all South Africans don't vote, we will regress. The boers will come back to control us,” he was quoted as saying.
Sapa