Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete on Wednesday deplored physical fighting among lawmakers which has regularly disrupted parliamentary sittings.

This came after a question-and-answer session with President Cyril Ramaphosa was disrupted on Tuesday when a brawl broke out that forced security officers to evict fighting legislators.

In the incident, Nazier Paulsen from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) jumped over benches to attack Andries Tlouamma from the Democratic Alliance (DA) following scuffles and accusations of racism by the two biggest opposition parties. Their fistfight continued for several minutes, plunging the session into chaos. A TV footage showing the fight has gone viral in the social media.

"The incident which occurred in the House yesterday during questions to the President can only be described as unfortunate, unacceptable and outrageous," Mbete said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.

Mbete appealed to legislators to abide by parliamentary rules, practices and conventions which all have a singular purpose - to ensure that in this House "we can come together in an open forum to debate our political differences in such a manner that all voices have the right to be heard and are afforded dignity".

"No matter how divergent our political views, we would uphold the values of tolerance, dignity and respect," Mbete said.

This is at the heart of the struggle for an open and democratic society, for which so many gave up their lives, said Mbete.

"We saw each other as fellow human beings - no matter your race, no matter your creed, no matter if you belonged to the majority or the minority. In so doing, we distinguished ourselves from a violent and lawless society," Mbete said.

South African lawmakers have a duty, by their actions, to contribute towards the healing of the wounds of apartheid and to set an example that can be emulated by society, she said.

"I therefore appeal to members to always remember this," Mbete noted.

South Africa has in the past several years seen several rowdy parliament sessions during which then President Jacob Zuma was answering questions, mostly in relation to corruption allegations.

In February this year, Zuma had to postpone his State of the Nation Address (SONA) when chaos disrupted a parliamentary session.