Following President Jacob Zuma’s state-of-the-nation speech yesterday at a joint sitting of parliament in the nations’s capital, South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance said on Friday it was seeking a court ruling on the deployment of armed soldiers in parliament stating that the move was unconstitutional.
Lawmakers of the opposition brawled with officials in an attempt to interrupt President Zuma’s address which was delayed by more than an hour and descended into chaos on Thursday.
Zuma had authorised more than 400 soldiers to join the security team at the parliament building during the speech, an unprecedented move his opponents described as a “militarization” of parliament.
“Armed military police, with live ammunition, on the precinct of parliament is completely untenable in a constitutional democracy,” Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane told reporters.
It was a half empty parliament President Zuma addressed after members of the nations’s largest opposition group Democratic Alliance exited the building in protest
President Jacob Zuma told state broadcaster SABC the disruption in parliament did not reflect a divided nation.
“I doubt that it’s a reflection of the national character. I think it is a reflection of a few kind of people like some parties in parliament,” he said.
“Democracy is not about angry young people, democracy is about debating what we need to do with our country.”
He said of the opposition’s actions in parliament: “It does not bother me. The fact that you could make parliament not to talk and undermine the choice of the majority of this country because you have your own feelings, I think it’s a misplaced kind of vision, in fact there is no vision at all.”
This is not the first time a parliament speech by President Zuma will lead to mild commotion among members of parliament but Thursday’s – in which he said the government would push for a greater role for blacks in the economy – was the most violent, with the scuffles spilling over into the precinct of the building.
Zuma, halfway through his second five-year term, ousted Thabo Mbeki in his African National Congress (ANC) party and became president in 2009. He has been dogged by persistent corruption allegations that he has denied. Related News
His popularity has also waned in tandem with an economy that has slowed sharply over the past five years while unemployment has hit a record 27 percent.
