‘Broken man’ to respond to parliament
President Jacob Zuma will today, (February 19) respond to parliament after he was referred to as a broken man on the first day of the two day joint seating SONA debate.
Cheers and jeers in parliament were followed by a social media buzz after the Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary leader, Mmusi Maimane referred to President Jacob Zuma as ‘a broken man, presiding over a broken nation’.
On the first day of the debate, Maimane said, “We have allowed one powerful man to get away with too much for too long. This man is here in our presence today.Honourable President, in these very chambers, just five days ago, you broke parliament.
“Please understand, Honourable President, when I use the term ‘honourable’, I do it out of respect for the traditions and conventions of this august House; please do not take it literally.
“You, Honourable President are not an honourable man. You are a broken man, presiding over a broken society.”
Watch: Mmusi Maimane’s speech highlights during SONA debate
The African National Congress (ANC) hit back at the DA with its own version of ‘pay back the money’.
ANC Member of Parliament (MP) Nocawe Mafu told parliament, “The Western Cape is a broken province, led by a broken premier; the opposition in this country is but a sad joke.
“Let me unpack what a joke the DA is, the party needs to explain why they awarded numerous tenders worth R400 million to Filcon, this was despite eight applications for the company’s liquidation pending in court.”
The joint seating debate concluded with tension between the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the ANC when Minister of Higher Education threatened the party with more violence of the kind they experienced when they were hauled out of the National Assembly by armed police on Thursday, February 12 during the State of the Nation Address.
