A national assembly meeting of South Africa’s parliament resembled a late night bar on Tuesday as it descended into two violent brawls between opposing MPs.
Two separate fights broke out during President Cyril Ramaphosa's question-and-answer session on Tuesday. The first tussle was between Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party members who clashed after a heated name-calling exchange in which they called each other “looters” and “racists.”
The second and more rambunctious fisticuffs came during Agang party member Andries Tlouamma’s address. Tlouamma – clearly riled up by the previous exchange – verbally tore into the EFF, labelling them disrespectful and ignorant for saying white people shouldn’t be allowed to speak in the house.
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After a water bottle was thrown his way, EFF's Nazier Paulsen and Tlouamma had to be separated by fellow MPs as they threw punches before being led out of the assembly by security.
The session was suspended for five minutes while the ruckus was dealt with. Both Paulsen and Tlouamma were ejected from the house for the rest of the parliamentary session and now face sanctions.
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