In a statement, Malema said he had called Ramaphosa to convey his regret and hoped that they could put behind them an unseemly exchange in the chamber earlier this week, where Malema made the accusation against the president after he was accused by an African National Congress (ANC) member of Parliament (MP) of abusing his wife Mantoa.

Malema issued the statement a few hours after Ramaphosa had apologised to the EFF leader's family and berated his colleague, Boy Mamabolo, for his slur against the EFF leader in the course of the debate on the state of the nation address.

Ramaphosa dwelled on the issue at length in his reply to the debate and said the row that broke out between the ANC and EFF on Tuesday during the debate was an outrage given the real struggle to stop the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.

"We must not politicise the issue of gender-based violence," he said, before quoting from the letter of a citizen he had received.

"I am most saddened as a woman. The use of GBV as grist for the gossip-mill in your parliament is one that has weighed heavily on me. The weaponisation of GBV is an insult to the millions of women who are victims of this national crisis," Ramaphosa read. 

He added: "I think this sums up the feelings of many people who were witness to what happened in parliament two days ago.

"We owe the people of South Africa an apology for what happened in this debate."

Ramaphosa said his heart went out to Malema's wife and the rest of his family.

"Let us agree that we should never again allow such an important issue to be used in this way and reaffirm our shared and unwavering commitment to use all means at our disposal to end gender-based violence and femicide."

After Ramaphosa had left the podium, Malema rose to speak and appeared on the verge of apologising in return, but was cut short by the chairman of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo.

In his statement, Malema confirmed that he wanted to express regret for offending the president and many others.

"Today, following President Ramaphosa’s apology to my wife and family, I stood in parliament to return the same hand to him, his departed wife, Nomazizi and his entire family. I was however, drowned down by ruling party benches without any protection from presiding officers."

He said he had repeatedly been taunted by the ANC benches with allegations of spousal abuse and it had caused his wife great anguish, but he should not have lashed out at Ramaphosa in the same manner. 

"In retrospect, I accept that I should have known better not to indulge myself in the same degeneration that the ANC caucus visited upon my person and that of my wife. It was therefore in a desperate act of personal defence which I now regret because of how critical the matter of gender-based violence is for all of us as a country."

He reiterated that he had never been violent towards a women, and said if there were ever a shred of evidence to the contrary, he would resign and subject himself to court.

"I hope the president can accept my apology, together with his family, which I offer sincerely. I also hope that such a degeneration never occurs again where ANC MPs use personal matters, masquerading in false and malicious accusations to score political points.

"I also would like to apologize to all South Africans who were offended in the process, in particular victims of gender-based violence. In conclusion, I would like to mention that I have personally communicated my apology directly to President Ramaphosa in a phone call. I, therefore, hope that this puts the matter behind both of us."

African News Agency