EFF’s Naledi Chirwa blasted for tactless tweet to Ramaphosa

Naledi Chirwa called a 69-year-old president a "weak little boy."

By / / Viral
naledi chirwa

EFF MP Naledi Chirwa did not get the applause she expected from social media users when she lambasted President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling the 69-year-old “a weak little boy.”

Naledi Chirwa draws ire from social media – Here’s why

The youthful EFF member, who will only reach the age of 30 in 2023, left users immensely irritated when she quoted the president’s weekly newsletter with inflammatories and derogatory insults.

Chirwa, we believe, may have interpreted the president’s thoughts in the newsletter, where he calls for the protection of South Africa’s Constitution, as a direct attack on Lindiwe Sisulu’s open letter.

For the most part, Ramaphosa’s newsletter was a summation of events that have rocked the nation at the start of the new year. The majority of the president’s thoughts were around the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the recent Parliament fire.

The only instance where Ramaphosa seemingly speaks on Sisulu’s open letter is towards the end of the newsletter, where he says:

“We must safeguard against any and all efforts to diminish our hard-won democracy – whether these efforts take the form of corruption in state owned enterprises, the subversion of our law enforcement agencies, the sabotage of our economic infrastructure, or attacks on the independence and integrity of our judiciary.”

Some might argue that this could have been the reiteration of a call made before, at the height of pro-Zuma factionalism and ‘white monopoly capitalist’ discourse.

However, for Chirwa, it was clear that Ramaphosa was ‘throwing a tantrum’ and doing what ‘little boys’ do when overpowered by women.

Suffice it to say, Chirwa’s tweet did not land the way she may have anticipated. Instead, the EFF member was condemned for her callous use of strong language.

Here are some of the reactions we picked up from the backlash: