An EFF MPL was forced out of the Limpopo Legislature by men in black-and-white uniforms on Tuesday. According to a press release from the Congress of the People (COPE)‚ the EFF member‚ named only as Butane‚ objected to a motion before he was “manhandled and escorted out of the legislature”.“This flagrant tendency to bully opposition MPLs is undermining the Constitution and will quickly cripple our democracy‚” COPE MPL Patrick Sikhutshi said in the statement.The men who removed the MPL belong to a protection unit safeguarding the premier and MPLs‚ COPE said‚ and the removal of the MPL was a transgression of the separation of powers inscribed in the Constitution.“As in the National Assembly‚ men in black and white uniform entered the legislature to forcibly remove the EFF MPL. These men are part of the protection unit safeguarding the Premier and the MECs in the province. This‚ in our view seriously impacts the vitally important constitutional separation of powers. The executive is unlawfully intruding into the domain of the legislature.“COPE also condemns the utterance by the chairperson of committees that COPE will not rule this country. Opposition parties are seen as a nuisance by the ANC of today. The rot is spreading from the National Assembly to the provincial legislatures. “South Africans must have every reason to be concerned about the manner in which the ANC is undermining the rule of law‚ damaging governance and eroding confidence in the economy. “Our democracy must not only work but must be seen by all to be working. Forcibly removing an MPL is not the Mandela way of conducting politics. Rather‚ it is the way of dictators to the north of us.“COPE urges the ANC to uphold and defend the Constitution‚ not work to nullify it.”..