The events surrounding President Jacob Zuma’s 2017 State of the Nation Address on Thursday provided South Africans a viewing experience even more dramatic than Mzansi Magic’s “Isibaya” soap opera. This event was quite a spectacle, as Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Front (EFF) MPs — most notably from EFF leader Julius Malema — delayed Zuma’s speech with 78 minutes of interruptions and points of order, according to a Huffington Post recap. The evening turned quickly violent, with punches thrown during the removal of EFF members from Parliament on Thursday. This chaotic nature of the event continued with the illegal use of pepper spray onto members of the public.
While the evening’s events were initially surprising, delving into the motivations behind the spectacle provides an interesting view into the parallel nature of the current state of both South African and American politics. The apparent extreme levels of polarization across party lines seemed to permeate the event on Thursday, with MPs from the DA and EFF speaking out against Zuma and the ANC as a whole in a similar manner to the American Democratic party’s opposition to many of the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump at a time when political polarization in the United States is reaching unprecedented levels.
While the tactics within the RSA Parliament and US Congress may be a bit different, Malema’s removal on Thursday sparked an immediate connection to legislative theatrics in the United States such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) official silencing during the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as attorney general. The content of Zuma’s speech continued to mark many interesting parallels between contemporary political issues within our two nations ranging from racial income disparity to student debt and tuition assistance programs.
From this event, it is clear that the news of the nation will provide not only an interesting perspective into South Africa’s most pressing political and social issues but also into my own country.
