South Africans may be excused for believing they were watching a soap opera as political parties played dirty in Tuesday's debate on the nation's state.

Police Minister Bheki Cele accused EFF Secretary-General Marshall Dlamini of lying about the claims that IFP leaders allegedly plotted his assassination.

Additionally, he said that John Steenhuisen, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, had abused a young woman who worked in his office before divorcing his wife and getting married to her.

Meanwhile, John Steenhuisen, head of the DA, referred to President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration as "the catastrophic regime in recent years."