Before the State of the Nation Address, the House of Representatives ordered Vuyo Zumgula, the head of the African Transformation Movement, to leave.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) tenacity in its disruption strategy caused the State of the Nation Address (Sona), which was supposed to start at 7 p.m. last night but was stopped three times and only started at 7:54, to be delayed by over 45 minutes.
Red Berets tried to stop the president from speaking, and Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula eventually requested security to step in. EFF members were expelled and a number of them quickly leaped onto the platform where Ramaphosa was seated as soon as Parliamentary security was summoned.
“You have the option to step in and have the South African Republic’s security forces eject the members. For the next ten minutes, no business will be conducted,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
The Speaker stood by her choice to prevent EFF members from clambering up onto the platform where the president was seated.
John Steenhuizen of the Democratic Alliance (DA) was the next to stop the proceedings with a call to order, claiming that the security personnel had broken the law by entering the National Assembly without the Speaker’s permission.
Steenhuizen further claimed that the security guards were armed and in breach of the regulations, a threat to parliamentarians, and he wanted it to be documented.
As time was running out, Mapisa Nqakula asked for the subject to be handled after the Sona address and stated that the EFF members started to pose a threat to Ramaphosa when they went on stage.
“Rules or no rules, this scenario requires me to state that common sense informs me that a president is there and speaking. I kindly urged individuals to leave the building, but they ascended the stage instead. The president’s security is directly in danger.”