RUSTENBURG, March (ANA) - Men armed with golf clubs and knobkerries disrupted an African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) rally in Boitekong near Rustenburg on Sunday in a yet another ANC vs ANC battle.
The group arrived in two minibus taxis when the programme was about to start. Men emerged and unexpectedly charged to the stage, where they disconnected the generator supplying power and threw beer bottles at people attending the meeting. Some people fled and fell into a sewage stream as they ran to safety.
The group was believed to be ANC members from Sunrise Park, Kroondal, and Tlhabane. The same group allegedly disrupted a North West Business Forum meeting at Matsukubyane Secondary School in Kanana outside Rustenburg on January 14, 2017.
ANCYL North West spokesman Tshiamo Tsotetsi said they were not surprised that the rally, aimed to encourage youth to register for the 2019 national elections, was disrupted.
"There is no reason for one to disrupt a programme aimed at encouraging young people to register and vote for the ANC. The people behind this disruption are leaders of the ANC who were mistakenly voted [in] by branches."
It was clear the disruption was spearheaded by North West premier and ANC provincial chairman Supra Mahumapelo, he said. He claimed the people who disrupted the rally were "fed drugs and alcohol by their handlers".
- African News Agency (ANA)
