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Fiery South African politician Julius Malema has been ejected from parliament after refusing to retract comments in which he accused Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa of being a “murderer”.
Mr Malema was thrown out by security guards after refusing to leave.
Last month, Mr Malema accused Mr Ramaphosa of involvement in the 2012 killings of 34 striking miners shot by police near the Marikana mine.
A commission of inquiry into the shooting exonerated Mr Ramaphosa.
He had been a non-executive director at Lonmin, the platinum producer that owned the Marikana mine.
Parliamentary chairwoman Mmatlala Boroto ordered Mr Malema – head of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party – to withdraw his remarks, saying they were derogatory.
But Mr Malema, wearing his party’s trademark red overalls, refused, saying: “I will never withdraw that… you can take me to jail for that.”
When he refused to leave, parliament’s sergeant at arms was called. There was a brief scuffle around the EFF benches as security guards took Mr Malema away, Reuters reported.
He has been suspended from parliament for five days, officials from the governing African National Congress (ANC) party said.
It is not the first time Mr Malema has disrupted parliament.
In February he and other EFF party members were removed by force after disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s annual address.
The EFF won 25 seats in elections last year and its MPs wear red overalls and hard hats in parliament in a symbol of solidarity with working people.
No parliamentary etiquette