An ActionSA meeting in Tshwane at the weekend descended into chaos when a violent scuffle broke out between members.

Some hurled insults while tables and chairs were overturned.   

The cause of the incident, which was captured in a series of videos, is not yet known to the party, said national chairperson Michael Beaumont.   

“Fellow South Africans, we have seen the video, and I can assure you that we are investigating the incident. It is already clear that a handful of members came to the meeting with the intention of disrupting the meeting and destabilising party structures,” he said.

A councillor who spoke on condition of anonymity said the commotion started shortly after members raised concerns over those given positions in council at the expense of others.

“People are angry, they feel undermined. They worked hard for the positions which they were promised in exchange for recruiting people to join the party. You can imagine the amount of campaigning that was done only for them to be ignored and told that ActionSA is not a job creation scheme ... It is not nice,” the councillor said.

“They feel that the party has instead deployed people who are not in touch with the plight of the poor,” the councillor added.

Beaumont would not be drawn into commenting on whether the scuffle broke out as a result of deployment grievances.

“I think that it is too early to make any official remarks on the causes of the altercation. This is what the investigation will look into,” he said.

In a party media briefing last week, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba dismissed allegations of disunity among party members, saying those with issues were former members.

“Don’t tell me about disgruntled members of ActionSA. These are not members, these are former expelled members of ActionSA. I think we must agree on that.

“And the reason why they’ve been expelled is because they think we are running some sort of stokvel. We don’t run a stokvel, we are running an organisation with a very tight constitution and respect for everyone,” said Mashaba.

Beaumont said the party would ensure those involved in the scuffle were dealt with through internal party processes.

“Our measurement of success must always be how decisively these matters are dealt with. In this regard, we are confident of the speed and decisiveness of our internal party processes.

“We will ensure that the matter is investigated and that those involved are dealt with speedily and in a manner that is consistent with our value commitment to ethical leadership — a standard that was clearly absent in the behaviour of some members depicted in the video,” he added. 

Taking to Twitter, Mashaba echoed similar sentiments, describing the scuffle as “unbecoming behaviour”.

“I just want to assure South Africans, in particular those who believe in ActionSA, that those behind this unbecoming behaviour in Pretoria yesterday, will soon be decisively dealt with and be history within our party. ActionSA is not going to be sabotaged as easy as that.”

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