Chaos as ANC supporters disrupt eThekwini council sitting

The first eThekwini municipality council sitting on Monday has been chaotic as power cuts disrupted the meeting, before African National Congress (ANC) members stormed the venue.

Leader of the Democratic Alliance in eThekwini Nicole Graham wrote on Twitter: “eThekwini Council off to a slow start as the generator keeps glitching. Seems to be sorted now.”

She further accused the ANC of trying to collapse the council meeting.

“The ANC are desperately trying to collapse eThekwini Council. They claim the tent we are in is a safety hazard and are now just repeatedly raising points of order,” said Graham.

“A mob of ANC supporters (unarmed, mostly women) have broken into Council and marched around our benches. Metro Police, SAPS, security galore and dololo. Everyone just sat and watched. They’ve walked away with no arrests.”

The ANC has been said to be “panicking” because it looks set to lose out on electing its mayor. This after the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said it would not vote with the ruling party.

In a statement, the eThekwini municipality confirmed that its inaugural council meeting ended prematurely following a power failure in the venue.

“While the teams were working on restoring power, the meeting was also disrupted by a group of individuals. The Municipality is investigating how the security controls were breached. The newly elected Speaker, Cllr Thabani Nyawose will reconvene the meeting in due course,” said the municipality.

This is a developing story