South African's Jacob Zuma deploys troops to state address SONA

South African President Jacob Zuma will give his state of the union address on Thursday

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has ordered the deployment of about 440 troops to maintain law and order in parliament for his annual state of the nation address on Thursday.

Opposition parties have condemned the decision as a "declaration of war".

Previous addresses by Mr Zuma have been marred by protests and brawls as opposition MPs demanded his resignation.

Mr Zuma has been dogged by corruption allegations for more than a decade.

A statement from the president's office released on Tuesday said Mr Zuma had authorised the deployment of soldiers to work with the police.

It is the first time that troops will have a security rather than a ceremonial role.

According to reports quoted in a local media, intelligence sources have warned there could be massive uprisings at tomorrow's event. Their alerts prompted fears that the police would not be able to cope on their own.

Past state of the nation speeches have been marred by chaos in parliament.

Since winning seats in 2014, members of the Economic Freedom Fighters' party (EFF) have caused disruption by chanting and jeering at the president over allegations of corruption.