Actions spoke much louder than scripted words last night

The disgraceful scenes that played out in parliament last night reflected the drift and lawlessness that grip South Africa today.

The security presence at the National Assembly was overwhelming and a television audience of millions watched as opposition MPs stood up one by one to object to the manifestly unconstitutional use of a jamming device to block cellphone signals in the House.

It was hard to believe that South Africa is a functional democracy.

The impression was reinforced when Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters carried out their threat to disrupt President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation speech and demand that he repay the millions of rands of public money spent on his private home.

Blood flowed when the Speaker ordered parliament's protection services to evict the EFF MPs and the official opposition staged an unprecedented walkout when co-presiding officer Thandi Modise would not clarify whether the police had helped evict MPs.

Claims that the Chief Justice walked out of the National Assembly during the chaos could not be confirmed.

For a solid hour last night South Africa resembled a messy, dysfunctional state being held together by the security forces.

The shocking display was a terrible advertisement for this country and its suitability as an investment destination. And, even though Zuma devoted much of his speech to what the government is doing to deal with the crippling power crisis, his comments on limiting land ownership will do little to assuage investors' fears around security of property rights.

Much of the blame for last night's debacle must be shouldered by the EFF, which achieved its goal of securing blanket coverage for a political party that commands only 6% of the national vote.

But the truth is that Zuma, who has been dogged by scandal from day one, is a deeply polarising figure whose political survival will continue to depend on the subversion of critical state institutions.