In 2023, when our problems as a country are too significant to enumerate, elected members of Parliament charging at a sitting president to prevent him from addressing the nation is as vile as it is juvenile, writes Qaanitah Hunter.
It is the tenth time we have seen the Julius Malema disruption movie.
And every year, the EFF disrupts the State of the Nation Address, they show themselves as a party committed to anarchy that completely disregards the rule of law.
The first time the EFF disrupted a SONA was in 2014 when they chanted the famous "Pay Back the Money" slogan and were violently ejected from Parliament.
I remember watching from the media benches, completely and utterly stunned. We never thought that Parliament could ever become a pub-like brawl.
More and more pointless
Then we saw the movie the next year and the next. And every time, the chaos seemed more and more pointless.
And while in the Zuma years, it was disguised as an attempt at forcing accountability, it has now become a predictable and stale effort at headline-grabbing.
South Africa is not the same as it was in 2014. The challenges facing this country are serious.
We pay attention to the State of the Nation Address because it is one occasion where the head of state can outline his plans to deal with the real-life problems of millions of South Africans.
Are those plans sometimes empty promises? Yes.
Does the president have a case to answer on other issues? Absolutely.
Are we being gaslighted as a nation? Probably.
Regardless, if you like it or not, we have a democratically elected president.
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The EFF played the anarchy card too much for it to be effective in helping ordinary South Africans. They proved that it had little to offer beyond its rowdiness and drama.
And in 2023, when our problems as a country are too significant to enumerate, elected members of Parliament charging at a sitting president to prevent him from addressing the nation is as vile as it is juvenile. Storming a president is by no means a "peaceful protest".
I stood there as the EFF was ejected from Parliament on Thursday night, and I remained baffled as to why they did not want the president to speak.
No accountability
It took me a second to realise that they wanted him to step down. Okay fine. It's your job as an opposition party to oppose the president. But physically charging at him is not going to force him to step down from office. This is a constitutional democracy.
"Parliament has degenerated, the executive has degenerated, the judiciary has degenerated, in the protection of one man," Malema later told the media.
He may have a point.
I agree Parliament needs to do its job of adequately holding the president to account. But there is no accountability in violently disrupting the president's speech.
The EFF should have listened to the president and then told us why they believed he should not be in the position when we vote next year.
They must challenge Cyril Ramaphosa's promises and prove why an electricity minister in the Presidency is a bogus idea.
This EFF disruption movie can't be replayed.
Not when we have endless load shedding, deep economic woes, growing unemployment and a state that is incapable of doing its job. We are long past this as a nation.
The EFF must realise that, just like the ANC, they face a tired and despondent electorate next year. We are tired.
- Qaanitah Hunter is the assistant editor of politics and opinions.
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