Politicians from the far-left EFF were removed forcibly removed by security staff during a disruption of the president’s state of the nation speech

South Africa’s parliament descended into chaos on Thursday as opposition politicians were removed by force after disrupting Jacob Zuma’s annual address.

The president’s first state of the nation speech since his re-election last May had been billed as an opportunity to highlight the achievements of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its plans for the year ahead. But he received a hostile reception from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by firebrand former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, who started to challenge him about corruption allegations.

Zuma had only just started speaking when EFF members began interrupting, demanding to ask the president about when he would repay part of a $23m (£15m) state-funded security upgrade of his rural home. A clearly angry Speaker, Baleka Mbete, warned several EFF members to sit down before ordering their removal by security officers, prompting a brief brawl in which several people were injured.

“We have seen that we are part of a police state,” said Malema, whose T-shirt was torn as he was bundled out of parliament in a scrum.

Members from the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) also left the chamber.

Zuma then delivered his speech to claps and cheers of support from the ANC as he highlighted the strides South Africa had made since the end of white-minority rule two decades ago. The president’s popularity has been waning, however, as South Africa’s economy has slowed sharply and he was seen to be spending extravagantly on his rural home at the taxpayers’ expense.

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said Mbete’s decision to call in security officers undermined democracy in South Africa. “She cannot escalate the issue by sending police into the chamber,” Maimane told reporters outside parliament. “It robs the people of South Africa of what President Nelson Mandela fought for, which is the upholding of the rule of the law and the constitution.“

Malema said before the session that he would “insist in a polite manner” that he be allowed to question Zuma on the controversial upgrades to his home in Nkandla, in rural KwaZulu-Natal province. On Zuma’s last appearance in parliament, in August, EFF members chanted: “Pay back the money”.

Public protector Thuli Madonsela said in a report last year that Zuma had “benefited unduly” from some of the upgrades, which included a cattle enclosure and amphitheatre, and should pay back some of the costs of the unnecessary renovations. Zuma denied any wrongdoing.

ANC spokesman Gwede Mantashe defended the decision to remove lawmakers from the chamber. “We can never allow parliament to be a place where people exercise anarchy and basically try to effect a coup in parliament. It is good that it was protected,” he told ENCA Television.

South Africa’s usually calm parliament has been shaken up since the EFF won 25 seats in last year’s election. EFF members sport red overalls and hard hats in the chamber in a symbol of their apparent close ties to the working classes.