The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday refused to apologise to the Zulu nation’s prime minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, after the party’s provincial chairperson, Siboniso Duma, interrupted him during a speech. Several ANC supporters were injured after the incident, allegedly by men dressed in traditional Zulu regiment regalia.

Duma, who was the programme director at Saturday’s event commemorating the 110th anniversary of King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo’s death, caused a stir when he grabbed the microphone from Buthelezi, who was introducing the King.

WATCH: This is the incident at KwaCeza near Ulundi whereby MEC Siboniso Duma (from ANC) stood up and grabbed the microphone from Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi (from IFP), the traditional prime Minister of the Zulu nation. This was at KwaCeza a short while ago where the provincial… pic.twitter.com/u68xKrnG5m

— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) March 16, 2024

Addressing the media in Durban on Wednesday, ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said while Duma had since apologised to the King and President Cyril Ramaphosa, who both attended Saturday’s event, the ruling party fully supported Duma’s actions.

“This could have gotten out of control. Duma was brave and stopped Buthelezi.

“The option Duma chose was better because it prevented bloodshed. So, when Duma apologised to the King, he was apologising for stopping Buthelezi in front of His Majesty. He was not apologising for stopping Buthelezi,” he said.

Mtolo said Duma did what he did because he felt Buthelezi was about to use his position as the prime minister of the Zulu nation to launch an attack on his political rivals.

Shortly after the stand-off between Duma and Buthelezi, several ANC supporters were injured after they were attacked by people allegedly clad in amabutho (Zulu regiment) regalia.

Speaking during a KZN provincial cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said the cabinet was convinced that the attackers were incited by Buthelezi, who after the microphone was grabbed from him, led the amabutho in a war cry.

“Mr Buthelezi’s behaviour, when he rallied up the amabutho, is the single action that led to the attacks on innocent people. It is our view that he intended to collapse the event and embarrass His Majesty, the Royal Household and the president.

“He unashamedly brought up political matters to an event that had nothing to do with politics,” Dube-Ncube said.

Earlier in the week, the ANC in KZN claimed that the IFP was behind the attacks on their supporters, an accusation that the IFP leadership denied.

Tensions between the ANC and IFP have raised fears that the province could be plunged into political violence ahead of the May 29 general elections.

In Wednesday’s press briefing, Mtolo told reporters that the ANC provincial leadership has since written to IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa, requesting talks to diffuse tensions between the two political parties.