Herman Mashaba refuses to apologise for 'Trump vs Ramaphosa' tweet

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has refused to apologise for a tweet he posted and later deleted that compared President Cyril Ramaphosa to American head of state Donald Trump.

In an interview with SABC’s Morning Live on Wednesday‚ Mashaba said his tweet was not personal or intended to praise Trump but was rather meant to spark a discussion on the failures of governments.

On Monday‚ Mashaba shared a picture listing Trump’s “successes” alongside Ramaphosa’s “failures”.

Side-stepping criticism and defending the tweet‚ Mashaba said: “I looked at the performance of the two countries because we are being told these lies that the poor economic performance and high unemployment is as a result of global economic issues.

“It’s got nothing to do with the personalities‚ but the failure of this government.”

Pressed that the tweet was personal and that he was effectively supporting Trump‚ Mashaba replied: “We are not stupid. All the looting‚ mismanagement and maladministration has happened under Cyril’s watch.”

He said one needed to interrogate why so many people were unemployed in the country.

“He [Ramaphosa] decided to turn a blind eye on Zuma looting our country‚ resulting in 10-million of our men and women [being] unemployed and an economy underperforming‚” said Mashaba.

Asked if he would apologise to the country for posting the tweet‚ Mashaba maintained it was merely to get South Africans talking about the challenges the country faced.

“I stand by what I have articulated‚ in terms of comparison of the governments and how governments can fail people. People want to divert attention to it and bring non-issues to the matter‚” said Mashaba.

“I needed South Africans to have a discussion on serious matters. We are going to continue with this discussion.

“Let Cyril tell us why the Guptas left South Africa before they are charged. This is what I wanted people to have a discussion on.”