The leader of Economic Freedom Fighters in Limpopo, Lawrence Mapoulo, has accused Premier Phophi Ramathuba and Legislature Speaker Makoma Makhurupetje of tribalism and nepotism, alleging they only hire Vhavenda and Balobedu in their offices at the expense of Bapedi and Vatsonga-speaking people.
Mapoulo addressed his party members during a service delivery march outside the Office of the Premier on Wednesday, November 13. In a video circulating on social media, Mapoulo is heard pointing accusing fingers at Ramathuba and Makhurupetje.
Tribalism remains a persistent issue in Limpopo and South Africa, often surfacing in political discourse, especially during elections. Politicians and parties sometimes accuse rivals of exploiting tribal affiliations to gain support or of neglecting the interests of specific ethnic groups.
In Limpopo, such allegations are linked to the region’s diverse ethnic landscape, primarily composed of Venda, Pedi, and Tsonga communities. Accusations of tribalism tend to arise when leadership positions or policies appear to favour one group over others.
The EFF march sought to address severe water shortages in the Polokwane Municipality, the province’s high unemployment rate, and high electricity prices. However, Mapoulo used it to lash at Ramathuba and Makhurupetje.
“The speaker [Makhurupetje] hired her sibling. She took the sibling by hand after the sibling completed (driver) license training yesterday. Here, you hired drivers for the legislature. [The] speaker is corrupt to the core. If you can’t speak Khelodzwi, you are not hired,” Mapoulo told the marchers.
“Even the Premier [Ramathuba] we have seen her. She has only hired people from Venda. Where are the Vatsonga? Where are the Bapedi? If you were to go to hospitals, there are many “Ndaa” people. There is no thobela (in reference to Bapedi). There is no “swilo yini” (in reference to Vatsonga).”
He added: “At the Office of the Speaker, they have hired six people. She took them by hand. They fired someone who gave the legislature two unqualified audits. Just because the child of God said swilo yini instead of ndaa, they said one side. Speaker cannot hire you if you can’t speak Khelobedu. Tell the premier that when we return it will not be good. All taxis in Limpopo will shut down the province because you failed a peaceful march. You want a violent march. It has been long since police shot at people, but now they will learn to shoot at people by us.”
The EFF leader was meant to hand over a memorandum of demands to Ramathuba, whom Mapoulo claimed evaded the red berets before they arrived at her office. He claimed she hired a man who failed, and he hired an unnamed man even though Mapoulo used it to lash at Ramathuba and Makhurupetje, claiming the Speaker hired her child at the provincial legislature as a driver.
“I’m not reading the memorandum because the person we wanted to give it to has run away. She knows her problems are that her doctorship will be stripped off. When we leave here you must to hiring pensioners. You have hired a 58-year-old man to take care of the province; after two years he will be on pension, but you signed a five-year contract. What are you trying to do? You bring pensioners here when you have youth in the department who can work. This person I am talking about failed in the police department,” he added.
Ramathuba’s spokesperson Thilivhali Muavha rejected Mapoulo’s assertion, saying the premier was the last person who could be accused of tribalism.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t respond to tribalistic nuances coming from individuals who ought to know better how we have used our might to fight the ugly scourge and consequences of racism and tribalism,” Muavha said.
“Second, we could have left it at that, but we are duty bound to set the record straight so that individuals are not misled. The Premier doesn’t appoint staff at the Department of Health, she is the Premier of the Province and has bigger responsibilities of ensuring that government priorities are implemented.”
Muavha said tribal accusations against Ramathuba couldn’t stick because she was registered as a voter in the Waterberg region, which is predominantly Pedi and Ndebele speaking. She also grew up among Vatsonga and Vha-Venda in Vhembe.
“There is no room in her to harbour tribalism that Mr Mapuolo would want to project upon the Premier. She fluently speaks all languages of Limpopo and has for years freely interacted with all cultural groups of Limpopo,” he added.
In the same statement, Limpopo Legislature spokesperson Andries Lekalaka said Mapoulo’s allegations were part of a smear campaign by disgruntled employees.
“The Limpopo Legislature, under the leadership of the Hon Speaker has been subjected to some smear campaign anchored on a cheap corridor gossips and conspiracy led by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). EFF’s statement and utterance made by its provincial leader (Lawrence Mapoulo) are baseless and not informed by facts. It is informed by a disgruntled and bitter section of the management staff who illegally secured and leaked internal information with the intention to deliberately bring the name of [the] Hon Speaker into disrepute and undermine her integrity and that of the Limpopo Legislature,” Lekalakala said.
He added that Makhurupetje received questions from Mapoulo about the matter. However, Mapoulo issued a media statement before receiving a response, which confirmed that the EFF had already received the information irregularly and unscrupulously.
The ANC in Limpopo has since defended Ramathuba and Makhurupetje, dismissing Mapoulo’s accusations and describing them as “polarising” and “anarchist utterances.” The party’s provincial secretary, Reuben Madadzhe, called on the Red Berets leader to immediately refrain from making “shameful inflammatory” statements.
“Mapoulo’s ill-timed views are not only tribalistic, but are cowardice, countering nation-building and reminiscent of this country’s torrid past, in which the apartheid arrangement had isolated black people into homelands. Tribalism and the homeland system count as the best ammunition used by the apartheid government, to sow seeds of discord and mistrust amongst the black people,” Madadzhe said in a statement.
“It is shameful for the EFF, in its grandstanding ploys, to draw similarities and inspiration from the same tactics as the apartheid government. In a province as diverse as Limpopo, it is disingenuous for any leader to remark that certain tribes are dominant over others. This undermines the great inroads on cohesion that the government has underscored over the past 30 years, and has the potential to fuel hatred amongst people of the same province.”
Madadzhe added that Mapoulo’s statement was divisive.
“In his wedge-driving rants, Mapoulo is also heard making condescending remarks about the highly esteemed khelobedu, at a time when there is an intense debate about its dialectical controversy. Being the alarmist that he is, he is even using threatening language, intimating that he will mobilize the taxi industry to disrupt public order, a constituency that he has little influence over. The ANC shuns and takes a dim view at Mapoulo’s divisive and repugnant assertions and calls upon all the peace-loving people of Limpopo to remain united and forge ahead with the noble mission of building a prosperous province,” concluded Madadzhe.
It’s not the first time Limpopo politicians have accused each other of tribalism and nepotism. In 2016, a grievance document allegedly compiled by disgruntled Department of Health employees accused Ramathuba, then Health MEC, of prioritising Vha-Venda in appointing hospital CEOs and other senior managers.
In 2007, former United Independent Front (UIF) Limpopo leader and MPL Ike Kekana accused then Provincial Sports, Arts and Culture MEC Joyce Mashamba of hiring Vatsonga-speaking people at the expense of Bapedi and Vha-Venda. Kekana claimed that visiting Mashamba’s department “feels like you are in Giyani”.
Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, Limpopo provincial cabinet announcements have always been met with tribalistic reactions from ethnic groups who felt excluded.
