--- title: "While you were sleeping: 10th February 2017" description: "SONA 2017 descends into predictable chaos, president delivers non-speech, but Japanese scientists figure out a way to fake pollination." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Newsdeck" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-02-10-while-you-were-sleeping-10th-february-2017/" published: "2017-02-10T06:03:01" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 868 --- # While you were sleeping: 10th February 2017 > SONA 2017 descends into predictable chaos, president delivers non-speech, but Japanese scientists figure out a way to fake pollination. By John Stupart · Published 10 February 2017, 08:03 SAST ## Content **FIRST THING with JOHN STUPART** **TGIF, 10th February 2017** *“A city's only ever three hot meals away from anarchy.”* **Alastair Reynolds** ![Image](https://i1.createsend1.com/ei/d/E5/B2E/0B2/csimport/849x493q70Ranjeni-SONA20171.050541.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [#SONA2017: Calamity Zuma and the Tenth Circle of Hell](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjykily-l-h/) By RANJENI MUNUSAMY Yes, it is the old normal. Mayhem in the National Assembly. Violent scuffles between MPs and Parliament’s bouncers. A disgraced president chuckling as pandemonium reigns. Empty benches after opposition parties walk out. So what’s new about the 10th State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Jacob Zuma? Cape Town resembled a military dictatorship with armed soldiers lining the highways, snipers on rooftops and 6,000 police officers holding the city on lockdown. It was the extreme nature of the violence in the House. And then the final destruction of the sanctity of Parliament. South Africa’s Ground Zero. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Fisticuffs and presidential bluffs in Parliament](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjykily-l-k/) SONA 2017 went about as everyone feared. A chuckling Zuma was heckled and resisted by opposition members for over an hour before the white shirt parliamentary goose steppers marched in and waged an unbridled melee with the EFF. The DA left on their own accord, presumably to be allowed a chance at verbal castration of the president during next week's response session. The gallery was hosed with pepper spray, and a general air of hostility prevailed. [The speech itself](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjykily-l-u/) Zuma addressed an empty opposition bench and dozing ANC MPs, but his speech contained little substantive material. Hailing the aversion of a ratings downgrade seemed one major bright spot, but for the fact that this was engineered by the one minister Zuma did not intend to have in his position. Land reform, a hat tip to Oliver Tambo, and lots of noise you've heard already characterised the non-speech of 2017. [US court denies bid to reinstate travel bid](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjykily-l-o/) President Donald Trump has had his bid to resurrect a travel ban overturned by a unanimous US court. The federal appeals court in San Francisco unanimously decided to uphold the ban's illegality. Minutes after the ruling, President Trump tweeted: "SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!" [Drones could help bees pollinate the world](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjykily-l-b/) Japan stepped up late on Thursday to provide a thin slice of pallette-cleansing good news. Researchers have developed a working theory whereby the use of tiny drones coated in horsehair and a gel could help the world's bees pollinate crops. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology began with ants and worked their way to small drones, with successful pollination attempts throughout. Technology, it seems, is finding a way. — IN NUMBERS 70 The number of media houses covering the SONA 2017 shenanigans. FACTS OF THE DAY Today is**James Small's birthday**. The rugby legend, and Jonah Lomu's worst nightmare in 1995 was born in 1969. NASA accidentally taped over the recording of the **moon landing**. 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