Alex Matlala

Alex Matlala

Proceedings ground to a halt after a fist-fight at an ANC annual general meeting on Sunday.

This happened at the Mokwape Edwin Malatji branch of the ANC in the Mopani region of Limpopo. It is not for the first time that the municipality has been shrouded in controversy.

The attendance register was also ripped apart and T-shirts were torn in the scuffle.

The meeting had been going smoothly until it was time to elect new branch executive committee members. Without warning local businessman and ANC big-wig Emmanuel Sekgobela and his supporters allegedly started a commotion.

The meeting was divided into two groups, the pro-Sekgobela group and those that supported prominent politician Molebatsi Masedi.

According to a source close to Sowetan, a rift emerged when Sekgobela registered a dispute prior to the elections, claiming "members did not form a quorum". He also accused Masedi of bringing in affiliates of other political parties such as Azapo to ensure his election into the executive committee.

But yesterday Sekgobela refuted the allegations, saying he merely placed the forms on the table, that were later torn apart by "certain people".

Masedi, the ANC chief whip in the greater Tzaneen municipality, said: "The meeting [was fine] until Sekgobela and a group of unruly elements disrupted it."