Leftists blast out of South African president's address

South Africa’s leftist opposition lawmakers have walked out of President Jacob Zuma’s annual state of the nation address after piling abuse on him over his performance as head of state.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) legislators yelled and heckled for an hour on Thursday before heeding the speaker by leaving the parliament, AFP reported. Outside, the police had to deploy stun grenade to disperse protesters.

"Zuma is no longer a president that deserves the respect from anyone," party leader, Julius Malema, yelled, while the president had taken to the rostrum.

"He has stolen from us, he has corrupted the economy of South Africa, he has made this country a joke and after that, he has laughed at us," Malema added.

Since its inception three years ago, the party has been contributing to the momentum against him.

The EFF has now turned into a potent platform for attacking the president, criticism against whom has reached its height over his expropriation of public money for private expenditure, the firing of two finance ministers within days late last year, and corruption within his government.

Rand, the country’s currency, took a nosedive after the ministers were showed the door and Zuma stopped short of explaining the reason for expulsions during the address, giving the EFF MPs an excuse to disrupt the speech.

The party has vowed to open an impeachment trial of Zuma.

ME