The EFF MPs‚ who had risen on points of order and been repeatedly shut down by the speakers of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces‚ Baleka Mbete and Thandi Modise‚ eventually left on their own accord after being threatened with eviction.
The group stood chanting "Zupta must Fall" before leaving the house peacefully‚ continuing their chant.
When several members were asked to leave the chamber for disrupting proceedings‚ EFF leader Julius Malema jumped up and stated: “You are our of order because you cannot expel people for speaking in this house. We are not going to allow that. This is so undemocratic. They listened to you and they went to sit down. Now you have just called them from nowhere. It's incorrect. It's unacceptable.
“You are prepared to remove the whole party which has been elected by the people in defence of one man. Zuma is no longer a president that deserves respect from anyone. He has stolen from us. He has collapsed the economy of South Africa. He has made this country a joke and after that he has laughed at us.
“We cannot allow Zupta to do as he pleases in this country. We are not going to allow that. We are doing what we are doing because we don't recognise [Zuma] as our president. He is not our president.”
Earlier in proceedings‚ EFF MP Godrich Gardee told Zuma: "Sit down Mr Zupta".
The Zupta phrase was coined when Malema’s red berets accused the president of being too closely allied to the wealthy Gupta family.
The EFF exit came after Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota‚ a former Robben Island prisoner who had earned respect as leader of the United Democratic Front during the 1980s‚ was ordered out of Parliament.
Lekota rose on a point of order soon after Zuma had begun to speak.
Lekota said he refused to listen to Zuma because he had broken his oath of office over Nkandla‚ as evidenced by the Constitutional Court hearing.
"He is no longer honourable‚" Lekota said of Zuma.
“We cannot listen to someone like this‚” he said.
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