Dr. Phophi Ramathuba’s recent contentious statement has prompted calls for President Ramaphosa to weigh in. Limpopo MEC Phophi Ramathuba made a comment about Zimbabweans coming to South Africa for health treatment while the country is struggling to provide services to its own inhabitants, and President Ramaphosa has come to her defense. The MEC has brought up a hotly debated topic, and she did so by talking to a patient about it. However, given the gravity of the topic, perhaps there was a better forum in which to bring it up. “It is a topic that will take a lot of attention even as we meet at head of state level to debate precisely what the mobility of people should truly entail,” Ramaphosa responded.
The MEC stated that the Immigration Crisis was to blame for the Health Crisis. She claimed that international patients are causing South Africa’s healthcare system to lose billions of rands annually. No immigration crisis would alleviate the health care issue. As a result of our border failure, we also have an immigration issue, but this is not the cause of the healthcare system’s breakdown. Seemingly, the ANC is pressuring President Ramaphosa to expel all Zimbabweans already living in South Africa. He’s now using Phophi Ramathuba as a shield to express his support for the prevailing Afrophobic sentiment in South Africa.
If President Cyril Ramaphosa had been present, the EFF would not have objected to the questioning continuing, but they did during the Q&A. Since the COVID-19 laws have been rescinded, both EFF Chief Whip Floyd Shivambu and President Julius Malema have stated that there is no longer any basis for hybrid sittings. Floyd Shivambu, the chief whip of the Economic and Social Rights Foundation (EFF), claimed that Ramaphosa should address questions on the Phala Phala scandal because it is not an issue that is now under consideration in court. For example, Shivambu remarked, “There is no legislation that authorizes him to evade these questions..which law is he employing, to resist accountability in this house?” Indeed, Ramaphosa must respond to the question put to him; he has no choice. If the president wants our trust, he should just be honest and address the question directly.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen pressed Ramaphosa on his confidence in Police Minister Bheki Cele. To keep the people of his country safe, Minister