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President Jacob Zuma
(Photo credit: Nigeria Camera)
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Opposition lawmakers
heckled South African President Jacob Zuma during a parliamentary session
Thursday in which questions were raised about more than US$20 million in state
spending on his private home.
"Pay back the
money!" chanted members of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a party that
wants to redistribute resources to the poor and entered parliament for the
first time after elections in May.
Dressed in red overalls
and berets, the new party's members have become a rowdy presence in the South
African parliament, where lawmakers are supposed to observe formal
question-and-answer guidelines and address one another as "Honorable
Member."
The leader of the
Economic Freedom Fighters is Julius Malema, a former ally-turned-critic of
Zuma. Malema was the former head of the youth league of the ruling African
National Congress, but was kicked out of the party several years ago after he
was deemed to be to be divisive.
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Nkandla Homestead
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"We're here to ask questions
and we need answers. Please!" Malema said in parliament on Thursday.
Malema has had his own brushes with the law, including reports that he failed
to pay taxes on time.
The uproar forced
parliament to suspend the session after speaker Baleka Mbete grew increasingly
frustrated with lawmakers from the Economic Freedom Fighters, some of whom
stood up and banged plastic construction helmets on their desks.
"I will throw you
out of the house if you don't listen!" said Mbete, who finally called in
security to clear the hall.
In March, South Africa's
state watchdog agency released a report concluding that Zuma inappropriately
benefited from state funding and should pay back some money for alleged
security upgrades at the president's rural Nkandla residence.
Zuma says he has
delivered a response to the parliamentary speaker about the spending at his
home, but has yet to say whether he will pay back any money. Zuma has denied
any wrongdoing in the spending, saying government security officials controlled
the project. Some construction, however, had nothing to do with security,
including an amphitheater, a visitors' center, a chicken run and an area for
cattle, according to the watchdog agency.
Despite the scandal, Zuma
led the African National Congress to another comfortable victory in the
elections in May. The party has dominated politics since the end of white
minority rule 20 years ago but has lost some luster because of concerns about
corruption, mismanagement and a gulf between the poor and wealthy.
