South Africa MPs scuffle during presidential address

Injuries reported after security guards force opposition legislators protesting against Zuma out of chamber.

s africa parliament fist fight
The speaker's order that the protesting MPs be forced out of the building prompted a brawl [AP]

South Africa’s parliament descended into chaos as opposition members of parliament were removed by force after disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s annual address, an unprecedented sign of discontent at his administration.

The president’s first State of the Nation speech since his re-election last May had been billed as an opportunity to highlight the achievements of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its plans for the year ahead.

But he received a hostile reception from MPs from the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, who started to challenge him about corruption allegations.

Zuma had barely begun speaking on Thursday when EFF members began interrupting, demanding to ask the president about when he would repay part of a $23m state-funded security upgrade of his rural home.

A clearly angry Speaker, Baleka Mbete, warned several EFF members to sit down before ordering that they be removed by security officers, prompting a brief brawl in which several people were injured, witnesses said.

“We have seen that we are part of a police state,” Malema, whose T-shirt was torn in the fracas, told reporters after being bundled out of parliament.

MPs from the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) also left the chamber.

Zuma then delivered his speech to claps and cheers of support from ANC politicians as he highlighted the strides South Africa has made since the end of white-minority rule two decades ago.

Zuma popularity wanes

The president’s popularity has been waning, following what was seen as extravagant spending on his rural home at taxpayers’ expense and as South Africa’s economy has slowed sharply.

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said Mbete’s decision to call in security officers undermined democracy in South Africa, evoking how hard that had been fought for by the country’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.

“She cannot escalate the issue by sending police into the chamber,” Maimane told reporters outside parliament.

“It robs the people of South Africa of what President Nelson Mandela fought for, which is the upholding of the rule of the law and the constitution.”

Source: Reuters