A disturbing video has emerged of a female security guard with a large Afro “klapping” EFF MPs as they were being hauled out of the National Assembly during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address last night.
In the video, the woman clad in a white shirt and black pants, is seen aggressively throwing fists at several members of Parliament, and for a moment she nearly klaps one of her colleagues.
On social media, South Africans have called for MPs to open a case of assault against her and have expressed their disgust towards her behaviour.
Johan Burger, head of Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute of Security Studies, says anyone who felt they were mistreated can lay a charge with the police or the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
Burger says there was no need for the show of force that was displayed in Parliament, and President Zuma called on military forces for assistance to intimidate the opposition.
“He knew they would create a situation that would make it difficult or impossible for him to deliver his speech,” he says.
Even female MPs of the EFF were not exempt from the violent force of security guards.
“There are clear prescriptions in the law about how the police should conduct themselves,” Burger adds.