South Africa's ANC fires Malema

South Africa's African National Congress has fired controversial youth leader Julius Malema for allegedly dishonoring the party, officials said Thursday. Malema, found guilty last month of hate speech for singing an anti-apartheid song that contains a line about shooting white farmers, was sanctioned by ANC's national disciplinary panel for his support of a regime change in neighboring Botswana and for openly criticizing South African President Jacob Zuma. He has been suspended from the ANC for five years and removed from his position as Youth League leader, the BBC reported Thursday. Malema was once a close ally to Zuma but has accused the president of ignoring poor South Africans who supported his rise to power, the BBC said.