[REUTERS] A session of South Africa's parliament convened for a keynote address by the president descended into chaos on Thursday as far-left politicians brawled with orderlies after interrupting the speech and the main opposition party walked out.Deputies from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party fired questions at Jacob Zuma for more than an hour, forcing the president - whose authority has been tarnished by a series of scandals - to halt his state-of-the-nation speech.
Zuma had earlier authorized more than 400 soldiers to join the security team outside the building during the speech, an unprecedented move his opponents described as a "militarization" of parliament.
Speaker Baleka Mbete ordered the EFF contingent ejected after their leader Julius Malema called Zuma "rotten to the core".
Exiting the chamber with his deputies a short time later, opposition Democratic Alliance party leader Mmusi Maimane said the president was unfit to hold office.
Previous Zuma speeches in parliament have led to disruptions but Thursday's - in which he said the government would push for a greater role for blacks in the economy - was the most violent, with the scuffles spilling over into the precinct of the building, Rooters news hounds saw.
A couple of blocks away, police fired stun grenades to disperse supporters of the EFF and the president's African National Congress (ANC) party.
The party holds more than 60 percent of the 400 seats in parliament but Zuma faced a revolt by some ANC members in November.
That same month an anti-corruption watchdog called for a judicial inquiry into alleged influence-peddling in his government. He has denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!