Stun Grenades, Lawmakers’ Brawl Mar Zuma’s Keynote Address
- Soldiers help police keep protesters at bay outside Parliament
- South Africa president’s approval rating has dived, poll shows
South African police scuffle with students from the South African Ruling party African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the annual state-of-the-nation address on Feb. 9, 2017, in Cape Town.
South African President Jacob Zuma’s annual state-of-the-nation speech descended into chaos as opposition lawmakers brawled with security guards, riot police fired stun grenades outside Parliament and rival party supporters clashed in the streets of Cape Town.
Parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete summoned the guards to eject members of the Economic Freedom Fighters Thursday after they repeatedly interrupted proceedings and raised points of order in a bid to stop the president from speaking. EFF members, wearing their trademark red coveralls and miners’ helmets, shouted “tsotsi,” or criminal, as Zuma entered the chamber, while their counterparts from the ruling African National Congress tried to drown them out by chanting “president” and “ANC”.