“Finally!” President Jacob Zuma exclaimed as he began his delayed State of the Nation speech last night. Then he giggled.Minutes earlier he had watched EFF members being punched and kicked out of the National Assembly following a disruption that lasted for more than an hour. Zuma seemed unmoved by the violence that again marred the proceedings after National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete called in security officers to eject the EFF MPs who had disrupted his speech. Earlier, Zuma had been only a few seconds into his speech when EFF secretary Godrich Gardee and party leader Julius Malema stood and called on the presiding officers not to allow him to speak. “Sitting in front of us is an incorrigible man, rotten to the core,” said Malema. “He must address the nation from prison.” After numerous attempts by Mbete and National Council of Provinces chairman Thandi Modise to get the EFF to allow Zuma to speak, parliamentary security officers were called and a brawl ensued. The expulsion of ...

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