In the house of insult

18 February 2016 - 02:39 By Bianca Capazorio and Jan-Jan Joubert

"Rubbish", "voetsek", "juvenile delinquent", "cheap wine" and "political dwarf" are just some of the button-pushing words that yesterday dominated the parliamentary debate on Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address. Though EFF members were not there, having a staged walkout on Tuesday, the debate quickly degenerated into chaos.Opposition parties yesterday stood together in accusing the presiding officer, Raseriti Tau, of political bias and double standards.Tau ordered DA chief whip John Steenhuisen to leave the chamber after the latter accused him of speaking rubbish. But when Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson claimed the EFF was drunk, there was no action from the chair. Tau also turned a deaf ear to ANC MP Mdu Manana's comment that DA leader Musi Maimane should "voetsek".Earlier, Joemat-Pettersson came out swinging to defend Zuma and her department. She maintained that, though the energy crisis was affecting the economy, her department was delivering positive results.Joemat-Pettersson said her department would deliver major renewable energy projects "on time and within budget", including a R64-billion gas project, within the next four years, and unveil two major solar projects in the Northern Cape next month. She said the independent power producers project that had received praise from the opposition was a Zuma legacy project.Taking a swipe at Zuma's detractors, Joemat-Pettersson said a six-year-old child in Northern Cape had called EFF leader Julius Malema "a juvenile delinquent". She further claimed Malema was like the "drunk uncle" who drank cheap spirits but "has the temerity to criticise the president's wine".In response, DA member Jacques Julius told Joemat-Pettersson to go and drink "cheap wine" and stop misleading parliament.Julius said the ANC had failed to address the huge gap between the rich and poor."Instead, the cabinet have enriched themselves heavily."You are loaded with cash, mostly through corruption - money that was meant to build our economy."Zuma is expected to respond to the House today...

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