EFF 'hooligans' in Parliament leave Sadtu, Popcru with 'a bitter taste'

The behaviour of EFF MPs in Parliament during the state-of-the-nation address last week undermines democratic institutions and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, Sadtu and Popcru said on Monday.

"The hooliganism disguised as seeking accountability from the executive displayed by the so-called Economic Freedom Fighters... left us with a very bitter taste," the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said in a joint statement.

They commended ANC MPs, President Jacob Zuma, and the presiding officers -- Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete and National Council of Provinces chairwoman Thandi Modise -- "for displaying political maturity in the face of extreme provocation by these hooligans".

The unions described the EFF's intended disruption of the state-of-the-nation address as "unleashing anarchy".

"We find it highly unacceptable that they want to overturn the [African National Congress's] electoral victory through theatrics and stunts in Parliament."

EFF leader Julius Malema and all his MPs were removed from the National Assembly on Thursday after they persisted in trying to question Zuma about misspending on his private homestead at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal during his state-of-the-nation address.

After they were removed, Democratic Alliance MPs walked out of the Chamber when Mbete and Modise failed to explain whether police officers or parliamentary security had removed the EFF MPs.

The unions vowed to continue supporting the ANC and praised it and Zuma for how far South Africa had come as a country.