Cape Town:
Radical new South African lawmakers shook up the normally staid opening of parliament on Wednesday by turning up for the formal re-election of President Jacob Zuma in bright red overalls topped by red berets or hard hats.
Their party, the Econonomic Freedom Fighters, charges that Zuma's African National Congress has betrayed the trust of poor black South Africans since taking power at the end of apartheid 20 years ago.
The newly-formed party, led by breakaway ANC youth league firebrand Julius Malema, won 25 seats in the 400-seat parliament in elections earlier this month.
The ANC of the late liberation leader and president Nelson Mandela lost ground over the previous elections in 2009 but still won an overwhelming victory with 62 percent of the vote.
Zuma, whose personal image has been battered by a scandal over the spending of some $23 million dollars of state funds on his rural home, is virtually assured of re-election by the ANC-dominated parliament for another five year term.
He is due to be sworn in on Saturday.
Before entering parliament for the vote later Wednesday, EFF lawmakers danced and sang revolutionary songs on the steps of the imposing building in central Cape Town as a light drizzle obscured the iconic Table Mountain in the backround.
Members of parliament representing other parties wore traditional suits and frocks.
Explaining the overalls - which some MPs, including Malema, had tucked into Wellington boots - lawmaker Mpho Ramakatsa told AFP it was to prove they were in parliament to represent the poor and the workers.
"This is to show we are not going to be swallowed by the system, that our presence doesn't mean we will forget you," he said.
EFF policies include nationalising the mines and taking over white-owned land without compensation, sending shivers through Africa's second-biggest economy and its international investors.
Their party, the Econonomic Freedom Fighters, charges that Zuma's African National Congress has betrayed the trust of poor black South Africans since taking power at the end of apartheid 20 years ago.
The newly-formed party, led by breakaway ANC youth league firebrand Julius Malema, won 25 seats in the 400-seat parliament in elections earlier this month.
The ANC of the late liberation leader and president Nelson Mandela lost ground over the previous elections in 2009 but still won an overwhelming victory with 62 percent of the vote.
Zuma, whose personal image has been battered by a scandal over the spending of some $23 million dollars of state funds on his rural home, is virtually assured of re-election by the ANC-dominated parliament for another five year term.
He is due to be sworn in on Saturday.
Before entering parliament for the vote later Wednesday, EFF lawmakers danced and sang revolutionary songs on the steps of the imposing building in central Cape Town as a light drizzle obscured the iconic Table Mountain in the backround.
Members of parliament representing other parties wore traditional suits and frocks.
Explaining the overalls - which some MPs, including Malema, had tucked into Wellington boots - lawmaker Mpho Ramakatsa told AFP it was to prove they were in parliament to represent the poor and the workers.
"This is to show we are not going to be swallowed by the system, that our presence doesn't mean we will forget you," he said.
EFF policies include nationalising the mines and taking over white-owned land without compensation, sending shivers through Africa's second-biggest economy and its international investors.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
