Blame game over violence at EFF rally

FOLLOWING a clash between ANC and EFF supporters in eSikhaleni on Saturday, during which stones were thrown and rubber bullets fired by police, it has emerged that parties involved attempted to avoid the conflict at all costs.

In the week leading up to the EFF rally at Esikhawini Mall, the City of uMhlathuze had denied both the ANC and the EFF Section 204 permission to gather at the venue.

‘Both applications were returned to the parties with recommendations they seek alternative dates in the week leading up to the event,’ spokesperson for the City, Mdu Ncalane said on Sunday.

‘The applications were received well in advance. Only the ANC came back to us with an alternative date.’

It remains unclear which party submitted their application first.

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Questions were sent to the City after it became apparent police were investigating a possible violation of the Public Gatherings Act.

‘No one has been arrested or charged with an offence relating to a firearm,’ said KZN police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane on Sunday.
He was responding to reports that an ANC member had been arrested and a pistol confiscated after a single shot was fired.

‘They are however investigating a violation of the Public Gatherings Act, as it seems that their [EFF’s] application to the municipality to allow them to gather there was turned down,’ he said.

Continued support
Over the course of the week, reports emerged saying the EFF were planning to deface the ANC memorial arch located directly across the road from the mall.

The ANC vowed to be in attendance while the EFF rubbished these reports at a press conference last Monday.

As a result, supporters from both parties were present on Saturday, forcing police to form a barrier between the gathered supporters.
National spokesperson for the EFF, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi meanwhile said that no political party needed permission to hold a meeting during an election year.

‘We do not need approval or permission in order to gather. It is a constitutional right that the people of South Africa are guaranteed as far as the Bill of Rights is concerned,’ Ndlozi said on Sunday.

VIEW: EFF eSikhaleni rally in pictures

He could not confirm if an application had been submitted as it was dealt with by people on a local level, but agreed that it was necessary to inform authorities of their intention to gather on a given day.

‘As far as we need to ask permission to campaign, I think that is the wrong attitude. Anywhere that we gather are public spaces.
‘We dismiss any thinking of that sort.’

‘Since the EFF launched, and we have even stopped complaining about it, there has always been some effort or the other to sabotage our gatherings,’ he said, responding to questions about alleged disruption attempts during the EFF meeting in Ladysmith.

Ndlozi said these problems were only experienced in municipalities under ANC control and that the EFF has been forced to on numerous occasions approach the courts to ensure their events could carry on uninterrupted.

‘They are afraid of us. The people who vote for the EFF are the same people who would vote for the ANC. When we call a meeting, we call a meeting of two political parties.’

Chairperson for the ANC in the Musa Dladla region Nonhle Mkhulisi on Saturday denied that ANC supporters had thrown stones, but confirmed to other media houses ANC supporters had disrupted the EFF meeting because ‘they did not have permission to gather there’.

‘The property on which the memorial arch stands belongs to the ANC, it is our personal property not that of the State,’ she said, responding to questions about why the ruling party had not left the protection of the arch up to police.