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Before we get the ball rolling, how about that photo up top?

It’s not from the 1970s, but it does show Nelson, Thabo, Cyril and he who shall not be named. Quite a foursome, but it’s obvious that your man Nelson is a cut above the rest.

OK, so on to the matter of whether or not President Ramaphosa ‘sold out’ during apartheid. The accusations came during yesterday’s second day of SONA debate, with Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota sending shockwaves through Parliament.

Before we go to the clip, here’s some background via the Citizen:

Lekota caused chaos when he stood to present his contribution to the debate after refusing to speak in Ramaphosa’s absence, saying he needed to respond to the president’s invitation to a “trip” he had extended to the Cope leader on Thursday during his Sona…

Lekota turned down Ramaphosa’s invitation to a “trip”, saying the only trip he had wanted to go on with him had taken place in the 1970s when those in the struggle were sent to Robben Island to be imprisoned for their political beliefs.

Lekota was imprisoned on the island in the 1970s…

He said: “I want to say to you, Mr President, that we were invited on a trip to the struggle by the leader of the students of our time, the late Steve Biko, who said to us that we must fight the struggle and said that ‘in case of danger or living conditions that threaten human life, we must accept life for what it is or not at all’.

“It did not take very long, two years or so, because it was in 1972. In 1974 we went into detention, among others, and in the course of that we had to respond to this challenge. You invited me last week, we had to respond to that challenge, your invitation last week was late.

The video below can take it from here:

Terror Lekota this is deep bafethu #SONADebate pic.twitter.com/BDnQSbL5VG

— Sarbelo uYasabeka (@EazyLabs) February 13, 2019

In short, Terror accused Ramaphosa of selling him and other struggle stalwarts out to apartheid authorities in the early 1970s, which is not an accusation to be taken lightly.

Following the completion of his speech, the EFF gave him a standing ovation, with some members of the DA joining in.

It wasn’t long before the EFF was frothing at the mouth, although this time they managed to refrain from enacting physical violence within the halls of Parliament.

Here’s TimesLIVE:

“The EFF takes seriously the allegations made by the leader of Cope, Mosiuoa Lekota, that President Ramaphosa collaborated with [the] apartheid Special Branch and sold out his comrades in order to avoid imprisonment around 1972-1974,” said the EFF in a statement.

The party wants Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to preside over the inquiry. EFF leader Julius Malema wrote to Ramaphosa asking him to “allow the chief justice to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate these allegations in order to clear the matter once and for all”.

“For a president who believes in openness, accountability and transparency, we expect that Ramaphosa will not refuse such an inquiry to take place,” wrote Malema,

“Our country cannot be led by a person who collaborated with the Special Branch to condemn freedom fighters [to] imprisonment and possible loss of life.”

Just what South Africa needs – another commission.

Maybe we should just let Chief Justice Zondo get on with the inquiry into State Capture for now, which is more than likely only scratching the surface of the corruption that threatens to derail this country.

As many have pointed out, Lekota’s words are somewhat surprising, given that he’s had little objection to serving alongside Ramaphosa in years gone by.

This hits the nail on the head:

We may never know what happened back in the 1970s, and whether or not Ramaphosa snitched to save his own backside, but it does seem like political opportunism to suddenly raise these allegations, with the national elections just around the corner.

[sources:citizen&timeslive]