- After several disruptions, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the presidency budget vote speech.
- The EFF disrupted proceedings by repeatedly raising points of order.
- EFF MPs criticised Ramaphosa, who has been accused of concealing the theft of millions of undeclared US dollars from his game farm in Limpopo.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's presidency budget speech descended into chaos on Thursday as EFF MPs disrupted proceedings, saying that a criminal should not be allowed to address them.
All the EFF MPs who were present at the National Assembly were thrown out of the chamber for repeatedly raising the same points of order.
First to head to the exit door was EFF MP Anthony Matumba.
Matumba spoke without being recognised by National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
He shouted that Ramaphosa was in no position to address the National Assembly given the serious allegations he was facing.
Ramaphosa has become the subject of a criminal investigation following allegations of money laundering by controversial former spy boss Arthur Fraser.
He has been accused of concealing the theft of millions of undeclared US dollars from his game farm in Limpopo.
The theft took place in 2020, and no criminal complaint was registered with the police.
EFF leader Julius Malema raised a point of order, calling on Mapisa-Nqakula to listen to Matumba's point of order.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele then got up and complained that the EFF MPs were repeatedly raising the same points of order.
Mapisa-Nqakula told MPs she would follow all parliamentary rules before throwing MPs out of the chamber.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu then rose on the point of order and shouted that Ramaphosa was a money launderer.
He hammered on the point that Ramaphosa should not be allowed to address the National Assembly.
Shivambu, attending via the virtual platform, was then muted. He also repeated the party's stance that Ramaphosa was responsible for the Marikana massacre.
He was asked to withdraw his statements, but refused and was taken off the virtual platform.
Soon after Shivambu's exit, another EFF MP, Noluvuyo Tafeni, was asked to leave the chamber.
Tafeni complied with the order and left the chamber.
Immediately after Tafeni's exit, EFF MP Washington Tseko Mafanya also received an order to leave.
While he initially refused to leave the House, he left when security officials entered the chamber.
A frustrated Malema was also removed from the virtual platform after he demanded that MPs not be muted and complained about those who were removed.
EFF MP Babalwa Mathulelwa entered the chamber and immediately raised a point of order.
She demanded that MPs on the virtual platform be unmuted. Refusing to leave, security officers forcibly removed her from the chamber.
Ramaphosa, who had, at the time, been delayed by over an hour, continued with his speech.
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