African National Congress (ANC) MP Yunus Carrim nearly came to blows with Andile Mngxitama, the leader of Black First Land First, on Wednesday in public hearings on the transformation of South Africa’s financial sector.

Carrim, the chairperson of the standing committee on finance, shouted at Mngxitama to leave the meeting for calling Joan Fubbs, the chairperson of the trade and industry portfolio committee, a “fascist”.

“I have the utmost contempt for what Andile has said about Joan,” Carrim said before getting out of his seat, walking to where Mngxitama was sitting and ordering him: “Go, just go.”

Members of Black First Land First left their seats to put themselves between Carrim and their leader, who had earlier complained that it was “fascist” of Fubbs to allow MPs to interrupt him and then to warn that he had limited speaking time.

Outside the Good Hope Chamber, Mngxitama reiterated his protest to Carrim that he had called Fubbs’s intervention and not her person fascist.

“Obviously I was taken out of context. I had told her it was fascist of her, not that she was fascist, and she was cool with that and we moved on. But now he’s being fascist to behave like that.”

Earlier, Carrim and Mngxitama had sparred verbally over Black First Land First’s contention that the economy was controlled by white monopoly capital because it still controlled the means of production two decades after the fall of apartheid.

Carrim twice asked whether the conduct would be any more reprehensible on the part of a black monopoly.

“Is the challenge not the notion of monopoly itself?” he asked. “Should you not desloganise and give us something a little more concrete?”

Mngxitama dismissed his remark as disingenuous.

“You are trying to delegitimise the struggle against white monopoly capital,” the former Economic Freedom Fighters MP charged.

Carrim also objected to Mngxitama saying that former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, who was fired at the end of March, had blocked economic transformation.

“I find it crass and not relevant to the issue,” Carrim said.

Mngxitama defended President Jacob Zuma as having the only viable idea on transforming the economy by calling for the “expropriation of white monopoly”, and said slurs against the President or the Guptas were a case of cheap moralising.

He called for a commission of inquiry into banks, which he termed “criminal agents”, and said an investigation should be held to put paid to suggestions that the Guptas operated outside the law.

“Let us support President Zuma … President Zuma is making the kind of move we need to push this society forward.”

The Black First Land First leader drew sniggers from ANC MPs, with one muttering “you are paid by the Guptas” as he walked past Mngxitama.