Rowdy start to #SONA2017

President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address got off to a rowdy start on Thursday evening with the Economic Freedom Fighters’ Floyd Shivambu claiming that 21 members of the South African Police Service had joined the parliamentary security contingent.

EFF leader Julius Malema then called on the Speaker Baleka Mbete to assure Parliament that members were safe.

Mbete dismissed the EFF’s objection‚ saying Parliament could not work on the basis of hearsay or supposition.

This was followed by the Democratic Alliance’s John Steenhuisen calling for a moment of silence for the 94 psychiatric patients who died after being transferred from Esidimeni facilities to unlicenced NGOs‚ which he described as the country’s biggest tragedy after the Marikana massacre.

Despite the request being denied‚ DA members stood in silence for 30 seconds as a mark of respect for the victims.

Then‚ just minutes into his speech‚ Zuma was forced to sit down owing to further disruptions from the EFF.

Earlier as ANC members chanted “ANC‚ ANC”‚ EFF members responded with chants of ‘tsotsi’ and ‘Khwezi’.