While on Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared shocked at the state of infrastructure in the township of Colville, in Kimberley’s Sol Plaatjie Municipality in the Northern Cape, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi isn’t buying it.

Ramaphosa visited the area ahead of the ANC’s annual January 8 Statement, which will be held on Saturday at the Tafel Lager Park stadium.

The president chastised executive mayor Patrick Mabilo for the sorry state he found the area in, particularly in terms of the lack of refuse removal, after he found rubbish dumped outside the shacks of some of the residents.

According to Ndlozi, however, Ramaphosa should know what the conditions are like in Kimberley as he last visited there 11 months ago, when the ANC launched its People’s Manifesto at the Galashewe stadium.

“Ramaphosa went to Kimberley to pretend like he doesn’t know the dire state of roads [and] infrastructure. Yet he was there 11 months ago during 2019 elections campaign. Why wait to return for ANC bash to be ‘shocked and surprised’ by the same facts AGAIN?

“Your man is a fake, shame!” he said.

READ MORE: PICS: Impoverished Colville stuns Ramaphosa into ordering housing talks

The Citizen reported on Thursday that on a door-to-door blitz in the Northern Cape, a visibly stunned Ramaphosa came face-to-face with dire poverty – a family of 42 squeezed into a tiny home in the township of Colville.

Apart from reprimanding the mayor, he also directed Premier Zamani Saul and officials in the province to urgently convene a meeting with Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to address the housing crisis as a result of the visit.

Following his visit, Ramaphosa addressed a crowd of residents, mainly in Afrikaans, expressing concern over conditions in the area.

“Your streets are littered with potholes, water becoming stagnant and muddy when it rains. Many people, especially the youth, do not work. Drugs and alcohol abuse [is] another issue I have identified,” he said.

Ramaphosa’s frequent expressions of “shock” have become something of a joke on social media, as well as ammunition for the opposition.

Just some of the things Ramaphosa has said he was “shocked” about in the past included stage 4 load shedding, state capture, and the state of our Metrorail.

Ramaphosa went to Kimberley to pretend like he doesn’t know the dire state of roads & infrastructure. Yet he there 11 months ago during 2019 elections campaign. Why wait to return for ANC bash to be “shocked & surprised” by the same facts AGAIN? Your man is a fake shame! pic.twitter.com/tOibsqumML — Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) January 10, 2020

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Background reporting, Brian Sokutu)

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