Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa, instead of ending poverty, has increased it dramatically. Instead of a clean and accountable government, he has stuffed dollars in his Phala Phala couch.
"What he did caused our currency to lose over 40% of its value against the dollar since the day he was inaugurated," he said.
Steenhuisen said after four years of deceit, it was now time for some hard truths.
"The truth is that life in South Africa today is far worse for everyone than it was even during the lowest point of the Zuma years ... You fooled the people of South Africa into believing that you could lead our country to better days.
"However, you are no leader. What you are, is a confidence trickster. A political swindler who milked your connections to become a billionaire and then left South Africa down and bleeding in the dirt once you were done with us," he said.
"The jig is up, Mr President. The businesspeople who once sang your praises cannot walk away from you fast enough. The Reserve Bank that breathed a sigh of relief when you were elected is now warning that your love affair with a warmonger could soon result in sanctions," he said.
Steenhuisen said South Africans should no longer believe "that a cadre in shining armour is coming to save this country.
"'South Africa is in this disaster because we got carried away by empty promises. If we are honest with each other, there was never any concrete evidence that Mr Ramaphosa could deliver any of the things he promised," he aid.
The opposition leader said the country needed to look harder into the evidence of delivery when choosing who to vote for in next year’s election.
"That is precisely what my party is offering. You don’t have to believe our promises. All you need to do is believe your own eyes. Where the DA governs, we are actually lifting people out of poverty," he said.
The opposition leader said historically, because the DA had no clear path to victory, it was better to cross their fingers and hope that Ramaphosa would fix the ANC.
However, Steenhuisen said that's no longer the case.
"The nine parties that are currently in discussions over forming a pre-election pact garnered 35% of the vote in 2021. By working together, we can grow by the 15 percentage points required for the pact to take power nationally," he said.
Steenhuisen said the pact will combine the DA’s proven track-record of delivery and clean, accountable government with the diverse strengths of their partners across other parties.
He urged voters "deceived" by Ramaphosa in 2019 to not let him fool them twice.
Steenhuisen said even if voters thought they are not interested in politics, load-shedding and hunger have shown that politics is interested in them.
"As for Mr Ramaphosa? To you I simply say, you have a great future behind you. We all know that you quietly quit on us a long time ago. But next year, the people will elect a new Pact government that refuses to quit on South Africa."
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WATCH | Ramaphosa a 'confidence trickster, political swindler': Steenhuisen
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has launched a blistering attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling him a "confidence trickster" and a "political swindler".
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday during Ramaphosa's budget vote debate, Steehuisen said all the good pledges the president had made during his "new dawn" and "thuma mina" speeches have proven to be a deceitful campaign designed to present him as competent leader when he was not.
Steenhuisen said if we were to chart a course away from the dangerous trajectory this country was on, it would be essential to understand how the country got to its current state.
Steenhuisen told MPs that Ramaphosa's speeches of 2018 and 2019 left the country feeling angry, betrayed and in despair.
"To be fair, it worked like a charm. Millions of South Africans put their faith in Ramaphosa. However, four years later, the president has broken every single one of the promises he made in his inaugural speech. In fact, he lately seems barely interested in the job. Like someone who quietly quit a long time ago," he said.
The DA leader said under Ramaphosa's leadership, violent crime has increased, load-shedding worsened, and the economy was refusing to grow, with the value of the rand dropping by 40% since his election in 2019.
Steenhuisen added that instead of rooting out corruption and improving accountability in government, Ramaphosa stuffed dollars in furniture at his Phala Phala farm.
Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa, instead of ending poverty, has increased it dramatically. Instead of a clean and accountable government, he has stuffed dollars in his Phala Phala couch.
"What he did caused our currency to lose over 40% of its value against the dollar since the day he was inaugurated," he said.
Steenhuisen said after four years of deceit, it was now time for some hard truths.
"The truth is that life in South Africa today is far worse for everyone than it was even during the lowest point of the Zuma years ... You fooled the people of South Africa into believing that you could lead our country to better days.
"However, you are no leader. What you are, is a confidence trickster. A political swindler who milked your connections to become a billionaire and then left South Africa down and bleeding in the dirt once you were done with us," he said.
"The jig is up, Mr President. The businesspeople who once sang your praises cannot walk away from you fast enough. The Reserve Bank that breathed a sigh of relief when you were elected is now warning that your love affair with a warmonger could soon result in sanctions," he said.
Steenhuisen said South Africans should no longer believe "that a cadre in shining armour is coming to save this country.
"'South Africa is in this disaster because we got carried away by empty promises. If we are honest with each other, there was never any concrete evidence that Mr Ramaphosa could deliver any of the things he promised," he aid.
The opposition leader said the country needed to look harder into the evidence of delivery when choosing who to vote for in next year’s election.
"That is precisely what my party is offering. You don’t have to believe our promises. All you need to do is believe your own eyes. Where the DA governs, we are actually lifting people out of poverty," he said.
The opposition leader said historically, because the DA had no clear path to victory, it was better to cross their fingers and hope that Ramaphosa would fix the ANC.
However, Steenhuisen said that's no longer the case.
"The nine parties that are currently in discussions over forming a pre-election pact garnered 35% of the vote in 2021. By working together, we can grow by the 15 percentage points required for the pact to take power nationally," he said.
Steenhuisen said the pact will combine the DA’s proven track-record of delivery and clean, accountable government with the diverse strengths of their partners across other parties.
He urged voters "deceived" by Ramaphosa in 2019 to not let him fool them twice.
Steenhuisen said even if voters thought they are not interested in politics, load-shedding and hunger have shown that politics is interested in them.
"As for Mr Ramaphosa? To you I simply say, you have a great future behind you. We all know that you quietly quit on us a long time ago. But next year, the people will elect a new Pact government that refuses to quit on South Africa."
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