South Africa's parliament has voted against an opposition motion to remove President Jacob Zuma, who has apologised after the country's top court ruled that he violated the constitution in a spending scandal.

The parliament rejected the motion by a vote of 233 to 143 in a raucous session in which some ruling party and opposition politicians jeered at each other and traded insults.

The motion required a two-thirds majority for approval. The ruling African National Congress, which has supported Mr Zuma, has a comfortable majority.

Mr Zuma apologised after the Constitutional Court ruled that he failed to uphold the constitution in a scandal over millions of dollars in state spending on his private home. The court also said the National Assembly failed in its obligations to hold the president to account.