A junior EFF member in North West was sent back home from work after she refused to greet party chief whip Bunga Ntsangani who allegedly physically and verbally assaulted her last year.

The woman, who asked for her identity to be protected, told Sowetan at the weekend she felt victimised by the provincial secretary Papiki Babuile after he forced her to greet Ntsangani.

In November, the woman took Ntsangani to court for the alleged abuse. The case is due in court on April 17.

The woman, who works as an administration clerk at the EFF's provincial legislature offices, said she would never greet Ntsangani.

"I feel victimised. I will never greet him, he damaged our relationship by the time he assaulted me. When I see him it reminds me of that time when he said he was going to cut my private parts," she said.

Ntsangani confirmed he did not see eye to eye with the woman.

"She found myself Papiki, Thabo Setlhogo and Alfred Motsi in my office while we were preparing to go to a meeting."

He said Babuile then asked her why she did not greet.

"It was only when she rudely told us all that she was not going to greet me," he said.

Ntsangani said he was not expecting the woman to greet him but greet others.

"I know that she will never greet me because of our case. I know she wants me to make mistakes, so that I can fight her and get into trouble."

Ntsangani said he did not assault the woman intentionally ahead of the case the woman had instituted against him.

He said the woman was the one who assaulted him by trying to strangle him.

"While putting her hands on my neck trying to strangle me, I pushed her back and she fell on a printer," he said.

He said the EFF in the province "had two groups". He said the woman belonged to a group of the party's chairwoman Betty Diale and that he was in a group that supports Babuile, who is the party provincial secretary.

"We are now preparing for a conference, now when she sees me she does not like it because she does not have a chance to make calls to her friends and delegates who are going to the conference.

"We are not seeing eye to eye with her because of the conference," he claimed.

Babuile confirmed the incident.

"It is unethical that employees when they get to work they do not greet each other. In any workplace we must continuously encourage a good working relationship among staff members because our office is a public office."