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Baleka Mbete, chairwoman
of South Africa's ruling ANC (Image source: Dailymaverick.co.za)
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The chairwoman of South
Africa's ruling African National Congress apologized Wednesday for calling
opposition leader Julius Malema a "cockroach" -- the insult used to
ignite the Rwandan genocide. The unusual move -- in a party known for its
reluctance to back down -- came from Baleka Mbete, who is also Speaker of
Parliament and was a key figure in chaotic scenes in the national assembly last
week.
Mbete controversially
called in security forces to forcibly evict Malema and members of his Economic
Freedom Fighters after they disrupted President Jacob Zuma's State of the
Nation address last Thursday, according to AFP.
Addressing an ANC
provincial congress on Saturday she referred to "cockroaches like Malema
roaming all over the place".
Malema responded by
claiming that Mbete was calling for his assassination.
"If I am killed tomorrow
people must know I was killed by Baleka and the ANC... We know what happened to
people who were called cockroaches in Rwanda," he said.
The term was used in
Rwandan radio broadcasts to set Hutus against Tutsis in the 1994 genocide, in
which some 800,000 people were killed.
"I have concluded
that my remarks - all offending statements I made - were inappropriate,"
Mbete said. "I withdraw my
remarks unreservedly. I apologize unconditionally, to South Africans, to
Parliament and Honourable Julius Malema for any hurt or harm I may have
caused."
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Opposition leader Julius
Malema was labelled a "cockroach" by the chairwoman of South Africa's
ruling African National Congress ©Rodger Bosch (AFP)
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It was a rare moment of
peace-making in a week that has seen some of the most bitter political
confrontations since the end of apartheid 20 years ago.
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