WATCH | 'I fear f*k*l': Ramaphosa tells Malema when quizzed about firing Bheki Cele

“I fear f*k*l.”

This was the bold response EFF leader Julius Malema received from President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday when asked why he feared sacking police minister Bheki Cele.

Speaking during a National Assembly sitting, Malema told Ramaphosa that while he knew that it was the prerogative of a sitting president to hire and fire ministers and national police commissioners, it appeared as though Ramaphosa feared Cele.

“The problem is that you took a person that was a commissioner and made him a minister. And because he’s got a competing interest of being a commission at the same time as being a minister, he interferes with the powers of commissioners,” Malema told Ramaphosa.

Malema said it did not matter who Ramaphosa appointed because “as long as Bheki Cele is the minister, we will never succeed in fighting crime”.

“What is it that makes you so scared of Bheki Cele so much so that you are prepared to allow our people to die like flies because you want to satisfy political expediency?

“If you think he possesses a lot of support in KZN, why can’t you redeploy him to another department and give us another capable minister to fight crime in this country?”

A laughing Ramaphosa took to the podium and told Malema that: “All I can say to honourable Malema is I have heard what you have said, but I fear f*k*l.”

Earlier Ramaphosa answered a question about former national commissioner Gen Khehla Sitole who he fired last month. Before being sacked Sitole and Cele were at loggerheads over various issues including pointing fingers at one another during the 2021 July unrest.

Ramaphosa told MPs,  “Outgoing commissioner of the national police service Gen Khehla Sitole and I had been in communication for some time about matters that led to the mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract.

“These discussions were not related to the crime statistics for October to December 2021 but were instead guided by what would be in the best interest of the country at large.”

The FF Plus’ Pieter agreed with Malema, saying Cele “wants to make certain operational decisions”. But Ramaphosa defended his minister.

“I think sometimes there can be [interference] and a straddling of lanes but we always, through the performance agreements that we have signed, want to make sure that there is adherence to the policies and oversight side and leave the running of the department to those who have been appointed to do that.”

The ANC’s Tina Joemat-Pettersson told Ramaphosa’s critics that, “if he is looking for another midnight cabinet reshuffle he speaking to the wrong president”.

Ramaphosa was not spared by DA leader John Steenhuisen who reminded him that when he reshuffled his cabinet the last time he said the country was determined to create a capable state.

“But look at the crime stats, look at the Zondo report, look at the unrest which said your poverty minister must take the blame but your DGs always take the blame. It's never the poverty cabinet which is too big and too corrupt to get their jobs done.”

Ramaphosa said: “We are taking measures. The security in our country is challenged and everyone is concerned about the lapses and problems that beset our security complex.

“Many more changes are coming and we will ensure that the security of our country is placed in a much better position,” said Ramaphosa.