Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa poured cold water on Democratic Alliance (DA) proposals to fund the expected shortfall in university funding on Thursday during another chaotic sitting of the National Assembly which saw the deputy speaker scolding MPs for their “kindergarten behaviour”.

“That to me falls in the category of cheap shots. You must never think that you have a monopoly on ideas. You don’t,” Ramaphosa said of a proposal by DA leader Mmusi Maimane that R720-million be shifted from the department of international relations to higher education to fund the expected R2.3-million shortfall in university funding, resulting from the zero percent student fee increase for 2016.

As Ramaphosa insisted government would find solutions to the university funding crisis, and repeated that government was a “victim of its own success”, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi accused him of “deliberately misleading the House”.

This resulted in a tongue lashing from deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli who insisted he withdraw the “unparliamentary” remark.

After some to-ing and fro-ing, which included verbal clashes between government ministers and EFF MPs, an agitated Tsenoli said: “This is kindergarten behaviour. Children couldn’t even take so long to understand.”

On Monday, the DA proposed that in addition to shifting money from the international relations portfolio to the higher education department, government redirect the R2-billion earmarked as South Africa’s contribution to the BRICS development bank to fund the shortfall in university funding.

While government has insisted it would find the money, an announcement on where it would come from has yet to be made.