The IFP has joined the "nine wasted years" chorus‚ slamming President Cyril Ramaphosa for being "opportunistic" in distancing himself from a mess they say he aided.

In a scathing open letter‚ IFP national spokesman and MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa said it "baffles the mind" for Ramaphosa to lay the blame at the door of former president Jacob Zuma's nine years in the Union Buildings when he has previously defended the man from Nkandla at every turn.

"You served in the Zuma ANC NEC. Not a word came from you. Instead‚ those who challenged Mr Zuma‚ namely Julius Malema and co‚ were expelled from the ANC under the auspices of the disciplinary processes that you chaired‚" wrote Hlengwa.

"When Mr Kgalema Motlanthe launched his campaign against Mr Zuma for the ANC presidency‚ you were quick to join the Zuma slate‚ which delivered you as deputy president of both the ANC and South Africa."

According to Hlengwa‚ Ramaphosa had chosen to take "collective responsibility" for Zuma's administration that inflicted pain on the country's economy. Hlengwa said the incumbent president could therefore not turn around and speak of "nine wasted years" because it was "electorally compromising" ahead of the general elections.

He accused Ramaphosa of choosing to keep quiet while the scandal-prone Zuma wreaked havoc‚ particularly during the four years that Ramaphosa was Zuma's "right-hand man".

"Whenever the seriousness of the implications of the Zuma shortcomings [was raised]‚ you were on the side that spoke of 'collective responsibility'. You cannot shirk that truth now because it is electorally compromising‚" wrote Hlengwa.

"Mr President‚ the truth is that during those 'nine wasted years' you stood on the side of the one wasting South Africa away‚ not on the side of the victims of the waste: the people."

Hlengwa challenged Ramaphosa to take responsibility and "own your complicity in the waste you speak off".

- TMG Digital