A brawl broke out in South Africa's parliament as President Jacob Zuma tried to give his annual state of the nation address. Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters were ejected after heckling the president.
South African president Jacob Zuma deployed some 440 troops outside parliament in Cape Town on Thursday as he delivered his annual state of the nation address. Few were expecting that the violence would erupt inside the chamber.
Lawmakers from South Africa's radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) brawled with security forces as they were ejected from the parliament building for interrupting and heckling Zuma during his speech for almost an hour.
South Africa's edition of the online Huffington Post news website recorded footage of the brawl.
"We have been patient with you, we have been trying to give you an opportunity to express yourselves but... it is being abused," Speaker Baleka Mbete told EFF members as they were thrown out of the chamber. "Your conduct has failed you. You are irrational, impatient, partisan."
Their expulsion prompted lawmakers from the largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, to walk out in protest. As they walked out, they called out Zuma for being unqualified to hold office and questioned the deployment of troops by the parliament.
EFF leader Julius Malema, once a protege of Zuma's, has been one of the president's fiercest critics.Image: picture alliance/AP Images/AP Photo/S. van Zuydam
"Finally," Zuma said, laughing and appearing unbothered by the fighting that had unfolded before him. He then started his annual address.
Opposition blast Zuma for whole hour
"Twenty-two years into our democracy, the majority of black people are still economically disempowered," Zuma said during one of the quieter moments of the session. He said that the under-pressure ANC government would "utilize the maximum strategic levers" to empower black citizens, be it legislation, licencing, budgeting or procurement.
"The economy is still not growing fast enough to create jobs we need," Zuma conceded, albeit predicting a 1.3-percent year-on-year bump in GDP.
Zuma saw his speech disrupted in particular by members of the EFF, clad in their traditional red workers' overalls, who repeatedly interrupted and insulted the South African president during his speech before being expelled.
Chaos in the South African parliament
01:16
This browser does not support the video element.
The EFF has continually declared Zuma unfit for office, citing allegations of influence-peddling that have politically weakened the president.
The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema (pictured above), shouted that Zuma was "rotten to the core," while other opposition legislators vocally labeled the president a "scoundrel" and "constitutional delinquent."
Scenes outside of parliament up to that point had remained relatively peaceful despite fears the clashes could spill over between supporters from the political rival camps.
That peace was disturbed as police fired stun grenades outside of parliament as they escorted EFF members out of the building. There were no reported injuries.
dm/sms (Reuters, AP)
When lawmakers pack a punch
While defending his government's record, Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was pulled from the podium by a lawmaker. It's far from the first time parliamentary debates have come to blows. DW examines.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Acosta
Unruly in Ukraine
Fighting broke out among members of Ukraine's ruling coalition in parliament on December 11 after lawmaker Oleh Barna, a member of President Petro Poroshenko's bloc, walked over to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, presenting him sarcastically with a bunch of red roses. He then grabbed him around the waist, lifted him off his feet and dragged him from the podium.
Image: Reuters/V. Ogirenko
Tear gas - the new normal
Kosovo's opposition lawmakers yet again used tear gas in the debating hall on November 30. It was the fifth tear gas attack in the Pristina parliament since early October.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/V.Xhemaij
Hard blow
Now, you would not expect such behavior from the usually reticent Japanese. The irony is difficult to miss given that these lawmakers, pictured in September 2015, are actually protesting about Japan planning to send its military to fight abroad.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Tsuno
Flying eggs and smoke bombs
Ukrainian lawmakers are not averse to rowdy scenes. Violence broke out in the Ukranian parliament in April 2010 as it ratified an extension to Russia's Black Sea naval base. The then-speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn was forced to take refuge behind an umbrella to protect himself from flying eggs and smoke bombs.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Marusenko
The Russian connection
Russia almost always seems to bring out the "beast" in Ukranian lawmakers. A brawl erupted in Ukraine's parliament in May 2012 over a bill that sought to make Russian the official language in certain parts of the country.
Image: dapd
Beef politics
The state assembly of Jammu and Kashmir in India witnessed violent scenes in October 2015 when an independent lawmaker, Engineer Rashid (CL-back) was thrashed by ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) legislators for hosting a beef party in protest against the beef ban in the state.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Mustafa
A history of brawls
Taiwanese lawmakers, like their Ukrainian Counterparts, have been known to throw punches at each other. Rival legislators came to blows in May 2007 (pictured) to protest against the electoral reform bill, throwing the house into utter chaos. Taiwanese lawmakers have been involved in at least five major brawls in the past decade.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Hsin-Teh
Serial offenders
South Korean legislators have also participated in several incidents of violence. Here opposition party members try to enter a parliamentary committee room barricaded by ruling party legislators in Seoul on December 18, 2008. The ruling party members barricaded themselves in a room as tensions soared over a attempt to ratify a US free trade pact.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Young-Han
Total chaos
The South African parliament descended into a chaos in February, 2015 when members of former ANC youth leader Julius Malema’s party disrupted President Jacob Zuma's annual address. There were clashes with security officials after the members were ordered out of the chamber. Several people were injured in the brawl.
Image: Reuters/R. Bosch
'Bloody' blows
Fist-fights broke out in Venezuela's National Assembly in April 2013, injuring a number of lawmakers during an angry session linked to an election dispute. The opposition said seven of its parliamentarians were attacked and hurt, including Julio Borges (in picture).
Image: Reuters
Desperate measures
Mexican deputies from the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) attempt to block one of the entrances to Congress to prevent Felipe Calderon from being sworn-in as the new president in December 2006. Calderon succeeded in taking the oath despite the fist-fight that erupted in Congress hours earlier between rival lawmakers.
