Durban – Having watched the State of the Nation address (SONA) for the first time, Neil Green, a well-known face on the Durban comedy circuit, said he was not sure if he would watch President Jacob Zuma deliver his speech to the nation again.
Green registered to vote for the first time last year. He said he was excited to watch SONA and share his thoughts with the Daily News.
However, after sitting through more than an hour of fighting before Zuma’s speech, he said Thursday night’s events reminded him why he had not watched Sona previously.
“For one thing, DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen raised a point of order asking for a moment of silence to remember the 94 mentally ill patients who died in Gauteng. His request was rejected."
“Only in South Africa can we spend eight minutes trying to block a party from conducting a minute of silence. It is literally called a minute of silence. If they had just done the minute of silence seven minutes ago, we would not be having all of this arguing,” said Green.
From laughing at the “tomfoolery” of the back and forth shouting for members to be recognised for their points of order, Green’s attitude quickly changed to concern after the violent clash between security guards and EFF members, who were ordered to leave.