MK MPLs banged their fists on tables, stomped their feet, jabbed their fingers in the faces of police officers and sang Umshini Wami. The legislature was disrupted for more than an hour until Speaker Nontembeko Boyce called for a vote, and MK's motion of no confidence in Premier Thami Ntuli was squashed.

The uMkhonto Wesizwe party (MK) not only failed to seize control of KwaZulu-Natal's R158-billion government today - it set out to drown its defeat in delighted chaos. The party didn't get its hands on KZN today, but its members in the legislature looked anything but sore losers as they brought the house to a standstill for more than an hour.

MK MPLs banged their fists on tables, stomped their feet, jabbed their fingers in the faces of police officers and sang Umshini Wami.

It was a fitting tribute to their disruptive leader, Jacob Zuma, who arrived in a convoy of sirens three hours into the Pietermaritzburg sitting to consider a crucial debate for control of the province.

Zuma sat pensively in the front row of a packed public gallery, not far from African National Congress (ANC), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Democratic Alliance (DA) heavyweights.

Zuma sat next to his party colleagues Willies Mchunu and Tony Yengeni. Close by were the ANC's Jeff Radebe and Mike Mabuyakhulu, the IFP's Albert Mncwango, and the DA's Dean Macpherson.

Zuma stayed for exactly an hour, from 11.58am to 12.58pm and then, realising his party would lose the vote to control the KZN legislature,...