Fans and foes of former deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana clashed on Wednesday as he was due to appear in court.

Manana is appearing in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court after he admitted to assaulting a woman at a Johannesburg nightspot recently.

During a tea break‚ former television host Andile Gaelesiwe‚ one of the leaders of the Not In My Name campaign‚ exchanged words with a student after she asked a group of them why are they supporting a “f*ck*ng woman abuser“.

Gaelesiwe then told some of the students that they themselves should “come out of the closet“‚ triggering an outburst.          

“How is he in the closet? You are very homophobic‚” a Manana supporter shouted.

State prosecutor Yusuf Baba had to intervene and warned both parties that they would be thrown out of court.

Brian Matyila‚ speaking on behalf of students from the University of Johannesburg‚ Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Fort Hare‚ said they were in court to support Manana because he was a good example‚ unlike some leaders.

“We feel very sorry for the victim‚ we are holding her in prayers and we are in no way condoning gender-based violence‚ in fact we are against it. [However]‚ we recognise Mduduzi Manana as the youngest person to hold such a position in that structure in South Africa. We say he must face the full might of the law but‚ in doing that‚ we must take into cognisance that‚ unlike many other leaders in South Africa‚ he’s one of the few ministers to step down‚” said Matyila.

“Let us use this incident and him (Manana) to say he must become an ambassador to fight gender-based violence and go to rehab for rehabilitation. We have hope that he will conquer this and we hope that all parties will find peace and we are saying: let us not cast him out but be in a journey of making this possible‚” he added.

On August 6‚ Manana lost his cool after an argument about who should succeed President Jacob Zuma at the party’s elective conference in December.

But what allegedly triggered him to attack the women was when one of them made a comment about his sexuality‚ labelling him gay.

One the victims‚ Mandisa Duma‚ opened a case of assault at the Douglasdale Police station on the very same day.

She claimed that she was with Manana and his friends inside the Cubana restaurant when Manana chased them out of the venue.

He has since resigned from cabinet and apologised for the incident. However‚ he remains a member of parliament.

Baba said Manana was likely to plead guilty.

About 10 Manana family members were present in court to support him. Outside the court‚ about 50 Democratic Alliance members chanted anti-Manana songs.