Lawmakers from Julius Malema's radical Economic Freedom Fighters party hurled abuse at President Jacob Zuma on Thursday, sparking a political storm.
The South African leader had been grilled about controversial security upgrades at his private residence in Nkandla, which cost taxpayers $24 million (18 million euros).
The Speaker of Parliament ordered the chanting MPs to leave the parliament building. When they refused, riot police were called in. Observers fear such incidents could damage South Africa's democracy.
“The economic freedom fighters have a right to raise issues in parliament, but their tactics could tarnish parliament's reputation in the eyes of ordinary South Africans,” Professor Somadoda Fikeni, a leading political analyst at the University of South Africa (UNISA), told DW in an interview.
“At a time when we are faced with serious socio-economic challenges affecting a large section of our population and with many stories of political corruption, the country needs to have some difficult conversations to rebuild itself and recover from the detours it has been on,” Fikeni said.
Demanding accountability
South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said it wanted President Zuma to take responsibility for “Nkandlagate”, the lavish renovation of his Nkandla mansion.
Democratic Alliance speaker in parliament Mmusi Maimane called for Zuma to be held accountable. “We agree that the president should be held accountable on this matter. We agree that there should definitely be a committee that can summon the president,” Maimane said. Maimane said he was taking this step because he believed in the application of the constitution and the rule of law. “In the long term, we want to avoid a situation where we have to weaken the law itself to the point where we no longer have the law to uphold.”
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has accused EFF lawmakers of trying to hijack South Africa's hard-won democracy. They accuse Malema's party of wanting to bring destruction and anarchy to the country.
Is democracy in danger?
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa called on parliament to take the strongest possible measures to protect its integrity. “Their (EFF) actions and conduct not only undermine the values of parliament, but also our democracy,” Kodwa said. “They have brought parliament and South Africa into disrepute.”
Judith February, a political analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, said she did not agree with the EFF's actions but believed they were due to a lack of accountability from President Zuma.
“The president didn't respond properly, he lost the debate and he caused this embarrassment,” Judith told DW. “The root of this is the president's belief that there is no accountability in South Africa over the Nkandla affair,” Judith said. In her opinion, Thursday's unrest in parliament was “a self-inflicted reckoning, both in the ANC's internal politics, the Nkandla affair, the Guptagate affair and the president's lack of accountability for the 13 South African soldiers killed in the Central African Republic.”
EFF leader Julius Malema has remained defiant and unrepentant in the face of the negative reaction to the events in parliament. Instead, he has chosen to emphasise his opposition to the government. “We are not employed by the ANC and the ANC does not tell us how to confront them,” said the firebrand politician. “We are fighting them and this is just the beginning.”
Some political commentators say Zuma is the victim of his own political machinations, having been credited with nurturing Malema's political ambitions and having been Zuma's ally in his fight to oust his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, in 2009.