ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude was just hitting her stride on Tuesday afternoon, reminding the National Assembly of the plight of the Palestinian people and the need for action to secure "their absolute liberation from the Israeli domination", when the Economic Freedom Fighters' Godrich Gardee rose on a point of order: this supposedly was a debate on the State of the Nation Address by President Jacob Zuma. "But he's sleeping," Gardee said. "Look, he's waking up now!"

It was unclear if Zuma had been asleep. Or if he was now awake. Presumably the guffaws from opposition MPs - and some ANC backbenchers - would have put paid to any possible nap time. The difficulty was that unwavering stony expression. For most of the afternoon he sat in silence at his bench, head in hand, rather like one of those Notre Dame gargoyles, as opposition MPs tore into his speech last Thursday and government members came to his defence.

But if the President did nod off, well, who could blame him? It's not as if proceedings were dull, but they weren't a patch on last week's drama.

Perhaps the debate would have been different had Speaker Baleka Mbete been present. 

It was, after all, she who had called in the White Shirts - members of the SAPS public order unit who had dressed up as waiters - to violently eject EFF MPs from the National Assembly on Thursday.

Mbete then reportedly went on to label EFF leader Julius Malema a "cockroach" at the weekend, telling the ANC's North West provincial conference that they needed to prepare for war against the party. 

The EFF wasted no time in raising Mbete's comments at the start of the debate - and the presiding officer, National Council of Provinces chair Thandi Modise, was just as swift to dismiss the issue as irrelevant. 

"On the insect matter--" she began to peals of laughter. "I think we are aware that there is an insect matter which is being discussed. We are also aware that the matter did not happen in this House. We also want to allow that space where that matter happened to deal with that matter. So that matter, Honourable Floyd [Shivambu, EFF chief whip] does not belong in this joint sitting of this Parliament."

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen begged to differ, and pointed out that MPs had in the past been ordered to leave the House for making threats of disruption outside the National Assembly. "As you know," he said, "the House operates on a precedent and rulings that come from the chair and yourself form the precedent of how we conduct ourselves."

EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi then rose. "Chair, may I address you? We would like to really submit that the dignity of this House, the authority of this House, is invested, in particular, in the presiding officers and, above all, in the Speaker, and in her utterances, wherever she [was] . . . she was referring to Honourable Members that she presides over, that she rules over." 

There was a "critical need" for Mbete to withdraw comments on "irritants, on insects, on the all the violence she was calling for on Honourable Members" if she wanted to enjoy the respect of MPs, he added.

Modise didn't think she could set the precedent of a presiding officer ruling over another presiding officer. Neither would she apologise on Mbete's behalf, but she would convey MPs' feelings on the matter.

With that, the debate got underway. 

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane, drawing perhaps on his theology studies, put in a performance worthy of a travelling tent show Baptist preacher, raining hellfire and damnation on Zuma.

"Honourable President," he thundered, "in these very chambers, just five days ago, you broke Parliament! Please understand, Honourable President, when I use the term ‘Honourable', I do it out of respect for the traditions and conventions of this august House. But please don't take it literally, for you, Honourable President, are not an honourable man. You are a broken man presiding over a broken society!

"You're willing to break every democratic institution to escape the legal predicament you find yourself in! You're willing to break this parliament if it means escaping accountability for the wrongs you have done!

"You see, on Thursday afternoon, outside this very House, Members of this Parliament were being assaulted and arrested by your riot police. A few hours later, inside this House, our freedom to communicate was violated by an order to jam the telecommunications network. Not long after that, armed police officers in plain shirts stormed into this sacred chamber and physically attacked members of this House. This was more than assault on members of parliament, it was an assault on the very foundations of our democracy!"

The opposition benches erupted in loud cheers, but Maimane was only starting. "We knew at that very moment that our democratic order was in great danger, but here's our question: what did you do, Mr President? You laughed! You laughed while the people of South Africa cried for their beloved country!"

"Shame!" DA members hissed. "Sies!"

Maimane continued, "You laughed while trampling Madiba's legacy in the very week that we celebrated 25 years of his release! Honourable President, we will never ever forgive you for what you did on that day."

It got worse. Maimane described how, when he led the DA caucus out of the National Assembly, they could all hear Zuma reading his "cold and empty words" from his speech.

"They were the words of a broken man presiding over a broken society," he repeated. "For six years [the President] has run from 783 counts of corruption, fraud and racketeering that have haunted him from before the day he was elected. For six years this broken man has spent his waking hours plotting and planning to avoid his day in court. 

"In this broken man's path of destruction lies a litany of broken institutions - each one of them targeted because of their constitutional power to hold him to account. A broken SARS that should have investigated the fringe tax benefits from Nkandla, the palace of corruption. . . a broken NPA that should have continued with its prosecution of the president without fear or favour, a broken SIU, a broken Hawks, a broken SAPS. . ."

It was a tough act to follow, so Malema - up next - didn't bother. For someone with a rabble-rousing reputation, his contribution to the debate was rather pedestrian - but he hit an assured note when he accused the President of plagiarism for pinching his party's "more radical" ideas and policies, particularly with regard to the Freedom Charter.

"But what you said here in our absence," Malema said, "and when police were assaulting women MPs, breaking their jaws and fracturing their chins, pulling us with our private parts, was not consistent with the Freedom Charter, and we are here back in these chambers to expose you to that reality."

More importantly, though, Malema did warn the President that he would be made to answer questions about the security upgrades at Nkandla next month.

"There is no doubt that you unduly benefited from the construction of your private residence at Nkandla and in our absence from this Parliament you never said anything about the fact that you unduly benefited and must pay back the money," he said. "It is a question for another day and you will answer that question on the 11th of March when we meet here."

Later in the debate, there came a glimpse, perhaps, of what lay in store for Zuma when EFF MPs laid into Free State premier Ace Magashule. His contribution to the debate enjoyed the dubious distinction of being the most heckled. 

Malema was on his feet the moment Magashule took the podium. "Is it parliamentary for the Free State Premier to address the House," he began, "because he is in the pocket of the Guptas?"

"Can we see if he is a South African citizen?" Ndlozi inquired.

Clearly flustered, Magashule managed to respond that Malema, too, had benefited from a relationship with the influential family. 

Malema shot back immediately. "Stop lying, Ace. Stop lying. I have never interacted with the Guptas. President Zuma can confirm." 

And maybe the President would. He is scheduled to deliver his response tomorrow. The debate continues this afternoon.

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