“SIT down, Mr Zupta!”
These were the words of EFF Member of Parliament Godrich Gardee at last night’s State of the Nation address.
“The president must sit down. Yaah, sit down Mr Zupta!” Gardee said to President Jacob Zuma, sitting down to allow him to speak.
This appeared to trigger the EFF on a path of disrupting the house, as they had threatened.
One after the other, they rose on points of order, but each of them were denied the right to speak.
Finally Speaker of the National Council of Provinces Thandi Modise, who was co-chairing, ordered them to leave the house.
Then their leader Julius Malema rose up in protest.
“You can’t do that,” he barked, “they listened to you and went to sit down.”
Modise then told Malema to join them and leave the house.
But before the EFF MPs left, Malema started chanting: “Zupta must fall!”
Soon all EFF MPs stood up chanting, with their leader, and left the house together without the “white shirt” officers having to lift a finger.
Up until then, President Zuma had had a torrid time trying to deliver his speech as EFF MPs and other opposition party leaders kept raising points of order.
This followed after Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete presented her interpretation of the rules, telling MPs that she would not to allow any point of order.
“This sitting is to allow the president to deliver his speech and no other business. On this sitting no other business will be entertained,” announced Mbete.
In the end, however, she ultimately had to let most MPs speak.
The war of words continued between Mbete and members of the EFF who had earlier threatened to disrupt the State of the Nation address unless Zuma explained why he had fired former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.
In the ensuing verbal brawl, EFF members led by Malema kept rising on points of orders arguing that constitutionally Mbete could not suspend the rules as she pleased.
Each time Mbete tried in vain to silence them.
At one stage the EFF even got support from DA chief whip John Steenhuizen who rose to argue that Mbete had acted unlawfully.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane rose to suggest the formal proceedings should be allowed to continue. Zuma took to the podium to deliver his address, which was constantly interrupted.
Before that, Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota rose to challenge Zuma on the Constitutional Court matter, saying he had breached the constitution.
Mbete lost patience and kicked him out.
Lekota and his MPs left the house without offering any resistance.
A few minutes after resuming his address, Gardee once more stood up on a oint of order.
Mbete intitially resisted recognising him but eventually gave in.
The floodgates had been opened and more and more MPs, began to rise, one after the other.
By then the sitting had degenerated into chaos.
