uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) leaders have laid charges of intimidation against ANC councillors in Phongolo after their members allegedly had guns pointed at them by ANC leaders in Ward 2.
A scuffle took place early on Wednesday morning between ANC and MK party members over the space to place their gazebos.
uMkhonto Wesizwe national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela told Scrolla.Africa when their members arrived to prepare for the by-election, ANC leaders started to intimidate them with guns.
“They always accuse us of violence but today they showed all the signs of hooliganism towards us. When we saw ANC councillors threatening us with guns we went to the police station to open cases of intimidation,” said Ndlela.
This is the second by-election the MK party is contesting in KwaZulu-Natal after they got the third most votes in Vryheid last week.
They received 207 votes while the ANC got about 300 votes. The ward was won by the IFP with over 500 votes.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said that the MK party caused the trouble.
“They are the ones who caused the trouble, then they rushed to the police station for a publicity stunt. They are lying because our members in Phongolo never did anything wrong to them,” said Mndebele.
In Newcastle, where a by-election is taking place at Ward 11, members of the ANC complained about the IFP bribing people for votes.
Mndebele said they didn’t lay any formal complaints about the incident. IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli couldn’t be reached for comment.
Pictured above: MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela.
Image source: X
