Cops act as ANC ‘rebels’ toyi toyi

Police had to use stun grenades to disperse a group of 30 ANC members who were protesting at the main entrance of the Buffalo City Metro ANC regional conference being held at the Alexandra Golf Club in East London this weekend.

The group, who had just been dropped by two taxis, were carrying placards expressing their unhappiness at the ANC provincial leaders’ decision to give the conference the go-ahead.

After being dropped, they moved into the parking lot and started toyi-toying, calling for the conference to be called off.

Conference delegates had just been bused from the Robbie de Lange Hall in Greenfields where they had registered, before moving to the golf course to listen to Premier Phumulo Masualle’s opening remarks for the conference to proceed.

One of the protesters, Mahlubi Dywili from Ward 24, said they were there “to voice our concerns regarding this fraudulent conference”.

“ How can they convene a conference with so many outstanding disputes? We want this conference to be stopped now,” said Dywili.

Acting regional secretary Mkhawuleli Maleki said 250 delegates were expected to take part, with 160 of them being voting delegates.

But some delegates were still concerned about threats made by the Joe Jordaan- and Ayanda Matiti-led groups that they would not allow the conference to take place.

The groups are demanding that the PEC and the outgoing BCM regional executive committee first table the outcome of the Jessie Duarte report on membership rigging.

But the party bosses in Calata House disagreed, saying all 90 membership forms implicated in the bank forms backdating scandal had been set aside.

The BCM’s ANC Youth League came out in full support of the decision to continue with the conference.

BCM deputy mayor Xola Pakati is contesting the regional chairman position against Matiti.

Matiti will be able to contest if he gets support from a quarter of the delegates as none of the branches nominated him.

Masualle had not spoken at the time of writing but the conference is expected to adopt an agenda and then deal with the issue of credentials.

Xolani Somaca, who took part in the protest marches to ANC regional and provincial offices, said delegates from 14 BCM branches would take their cause to the conference and lodge disputes when credentials were scrutinised.