Johannesburg - Hell hath no fury like a livid man from Seshego! Fiery local resident M’dala Mageza, was so incensed on Saturday that ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa retreated without even trying to reason with him.
As Ramaphosa and his entourage tried to enter a house in the neighbourhood of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, Mageza told him to go away… because he was not welcome.
“This is my home, go away,” he shouted.
But the chairman of the ANC’s Milo Malatjie branch, Boy Mamabolo, said the place was not Mageza’s home. “His home is the next-door house.”
Mageza, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, could also be seen scraping about on the ground.
It seemed he was looking for stones to pelt the ANC leader’s entourage.
In the end, Ramaphosa walked away and refused to engage.
The showdown happened metres away from the double-storey house of Malema’s grandmother.
A handful of EFF supporters were seen chanting and singing in front of the Malema house.
Ramaphosa’s entourage, which included ANC national executive committee member Pule Mabe and Ruth Bhengu, gave Sarah Malema’s house a wide berth.
Instead, they went into another house, before he interacted with locals who complained about incorrect water bills by the City of Polokwane.
Ramaphosa later downplayed the fact that Mageza had sent him packing.
“It’s a Saturday afternoon. He doesn’t know what he is doing,” he remarked.
The ANC also lashed a Sunday newspaper for its “shameless sensationalism” on Ramaphosa’s visit to Polokwane.
The City Press claimed that Seshego had shunned Ramaphosa.
“The facts, which were accurately reported elsewhere, are that the programme was successful and the ANC’s message was warmly received,” said ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu.
“In Seshego, the (party’s) deputy president shook the hands of residents who lined up the street to greet him, including those of a handful of EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) young men standing near the voting station.
“Only one EFF member refused to shake his hand. A visibly drunk man blocked a gate of one of the houses in which he was invited, denying that family an opportunity with the deputy president. Residents later confirmed that the intoxicated man was not the owner of the house.
“To use these uneventful occurrences as an opportunity to fabricate and distort the entire visit in order to suggest the deputy president was ‘shunned by the entire Seshego’ is illustrative of the extent City Press would go to reflect the ANC in bad light,” Mthembu said.
The Star