Chaos erupted at Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium on Friday evening at an ANC  meeting called to explain the decision to fire eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her entire executive committee.

The meeting was attended by eThekwini branch secretaries, chairpersons and municipal councillors. It descended into chaos over disagreements on credentials of people attending, according to insiders who were present.

Provincial executive committee members Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Ricardo Mthembu were meant to address the gathering. However it collapsed before it began.

Insiders said members loyal to Gumede rejected the presence of the regional task team (RTT) appointed to replace the disbanded eThekwini regional executive committee, of which Gumede was chairperson.

“While she (Dube-Ncube) was still verifying credentials, some began being chaotic and when she tried to discipline them, they became hostile towards her.

“Then they started to kick tables and chairs and the meeting collapsed because things became violent and bad,” the insider said. 

The ANC, in sweeping leadership changes in eThekwini municipality announced on Tuesday, said it  had lost confidence in all executive deployees led by Gumede in the Ethekwini Municipality.