Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has once again set South Africa’s political temperature alight, this time launching a blistering attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa and calling on him to step down amid the growing pressure around the impeachment process. In comments that will almost certainly fuel fresh debate in Parliament and beyond, Malema accused the President of acting unlawfully and said South Africans were now dealing with a “criminal” rather than a head of state.
Malema’s remarks, delivered in his trademark combative style, were uncompromising from the start. He declared that the country no longer had a president in the normal sense, but instead had a “sekebekwa” — a criminal — arguing that no one who has allegedly undermined the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa deserves deference. The EFF leader insisted that respect cannot be demanded from the public if the person in office is accused of betraying the very document that gives them authority.
The latest attack comes at a time when Ramaphosa remains under intense scrutiny, with opposition parties and political commentators still weighing the implications of the ongoing impeachment debate. Malema used that backdrop to sharpen his message, suggesting that the push to remove him from public life is tied directly to efforts to silence the EFF leader and, by extension, the party’s supporters.
According to Malema, his own incarceration would have served the interests of those he believes want the truth buried. He told supporters that he is convinced he is being targeted because his political work has helped expose uncomfortable realities to ordinary South Africans. In his view, the EFF’s stance has already changed the public conversation, and that makes him a threat to the status quo.
As we reported earlier, Malema often frames the EFF’s politics as a long-game strategy, and he returned to that theme again here. He said the party has what he described as a “giraffe view” — a way of seeing far ahead and understanding where political developments are headed before others do. That language was used to underline his belief that the EFF is not merely reacting to events, but reading the country’s future before it arrives.
His comments about Ramaphosa’s future were even more direct. Malema said the President should consult his conscience and resign immediately, then face the impeachment process without delay. He argued that the country cannot continue with a leader who is, in his words, trying to function as both an active president and a political subject of removal at the same time.
The EFF leader said it was impossible for Ramaphosa to properly carry out the duties of the office while simultaneously dealing with the demands of impeachment. He suggested the President must choose one path and stop trying to juggle both responsibilities. In Malema’s telling, the country needs clarity, and that clarity would only come once Ramaphosa steps aside.
Julius Malema on Ramaphosa and the impeachment fight
The Julius Malema on Ramaphosa row lands squarely in the middle of South Africa’s already polarised political climate, where questions of accountability, ethics, and constitutional duty continue to dominate the public agenda. For the EFF, the issue is not simply political theatre. It is being presented as a serious test of whether the country’s institutions are willing to act when the President himself is in the firing line.
Malema’s language was deliberately harsh, but it also reflects the EFF’s broader strategy of keeping pressure on the Presidency by turning every development into a larger constitutional argument. By framing the matter as one of criminality and moral failure, he is seeking to shift the debate away from technical legal process and toward public outrage. That approach has long been central to the party’s brand of opposition politics.
He also made clear that, in his view, the President’s position is now untenable. The implication is that a leader facing impeachment cannot credibly continue to govern as though nothing has changed. That argument will resonate with critics of the Presidency, particularly those who believe the process itself has weakened Ramaphosa’s moral authority even before any formal outcome is reached.
But it is also clear that Malema’s comments are designed to do more than simply criticise. They are meant to mobilise. By linking his own detention fears, the truth he says he has already revealed, and the future of the country, he is drawing a direct line between his personal political struggle and the broader national moment. In effect, he is telling supporters that the battle over Ramaphosa is also a battle over who gets to define South Africa’s truth.
For SA Report readers, the significance lies in how aggressively the EFF is continuing to push the issue into the public arena. This is not a passing remark or a throwaway soundbite. It is part of a sustained political offensive that keeps Ramaphosa under pressure and ensures the impeachment question stays alive in the national conversation.
The challenge for the President is that every fresh criticism adds weight to the perception that his administration is operating under a cloud. Whether or not the legal and parliamentary processes ultimately move forward, the political damage is already visible. Ramaphosa is being forced to defend not just his office, but his legitimacy.
Malema, meanwhile, appears determined to make the pressure last. By calling for resignation, insisting on impeachment, and accusing the President of constitutional wrongdoing, he has once again put the EFF at the centre of South Africa’s political drama. And as things stand, the confrontation between Julius Malema and Cyril Ramaphosa shows no sign of cooling down any time soon.