A virtual meeting held by a South African parliamentary committee was on Thursday morning hacked and the Speaker abused.

The meeting of the programming committee had just started when pornographic images appeared on the screen and a male voice hurled insults at Speaker Thandi Modise who was chairing.

The Speaker exclaimed and expressed her opposition to virtual meetings.

"This is exactly what I said about Zoom!" Ms Modise is quoted as saying by Times Live website.

MPs described the incident as “sick” and “disturbing”, news website Eyewitness News reports.

Parliament's technicians created a new link where Members of Parliament joined in.