'He's no wife beater': Mboweni leaps to Ramaphosa's defence

A former wife of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and former cabinet minister Tito Mboweni have jumped to his defence to speak out against a claim that he is a woman beater.

Mboweni posted on Facebook: "I warned in May that this ANC Leadership thing is going to get nasty. Smear campaigns will destroy this organization. I do not believe for a moment that my brother and comrade has ever‚ ever‚ raised his hand against his wife. Ever‚ never!..."

On Wednesday EyeWitnessNews quoted an ex-wife of the deputy president‚ Hope Ramaphosa‚ as saying he never laid a hand on her during their relationship.

"I lived with him‚ and had opportunity to make him angry many times‚ but never ever did Cyril lift a finger‚" Hope Ramaphosa told the radio station.

Endorsing him to become the next president of the ANC and South Africa‚ Hope Ramaphosa told EWN: “Cyril would rather negotiate or do things amicably than beat them up. I was his wife and girlfriend for a very long time‚ Cyril would not beat up a woman. He is very sensitive to women’s issues.”

A tweet by Andile Ramaphosa‚ believed to be an account belonging to the presidential contender's son‚ also took umbrage at the comment made during an interview with Capricorn FM on Monday evening by EFF leader Julius Malema.

Malema had said: “Let me tell you why Bathabile [Dlamini] says there are worse people than Mduduzi Manana in the ANC. She is referring to Cyril Ramaphosa; they are saying he used to beat up his wife‚” according to a report in the Citizen on the EFF leader's remarks. TimesLive reported Malema saying in the interview that if deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana was a member of his party‚ he would have been charged and subjected to "internal process" after confessing to beating a woman.

At the weekend‚ the Sunday Times reported that Dlamini said Manana was not the only woman abuser in government and that there were senior officials who were far worse than him.

She was quoted telling an ANC Women's League (ANCWL) event in Ekurhuleni that: "Any ANC leader who wants to lead the ANC with female members must straighten up . . . There is blood dripping in their bedrooms because they abuse their partners."

A digital campaign operating in support of Ramaphosa under the banner “CR17 Siyavuma” - although he has denied authorising it - has also decried the "dirty tricks" being utilised against their presidential contender.

"The CR17 campaign will not allow an expanding ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to derail its efforts.

"The latest part of this campaign was revealed by Julius Malema on Capricorn FM . . . where he spoke about rumours that Cyril Ramaphosa had abused his former wife. Malema also implied that certain ANC leaders may be behind these rumours.

". . . With the high levels of domestic violence in South Africa‚ it is extremely unfortunate that baseless rumours of this nature are used for political gain.

". . . Consistent with its objectives‚ the CR17 campaign supports the thorough investigation by appropriate authorities of any and all credible allegations of criminal activity‚ especially violence against women and allegations of misappropriation of public funds."

See the full post here.