Members of the African National Congress(ANC) were reportedly set upon today while doing a door to door election campaign in Lindelani township in KwaDukuza.
Police minister Bheki Cele, who had joined the campaign, was apparently not among the injured.
The township is known to be a stronghold of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the ANC have accused the IFP of being responsible for the attack.
“We went to F section and IFP members started throwing stones at us.
“Three of our members required medical attention and I am not sure how many escaped with minor injuries,” said ANC KwaDkuza sub-region secretary Mlekeleli Gcabashe.
KZN police spokesperson colonel Thembeka Mbele said there had been two groups conducting the door to door campaign and Cele was not among the group that had been attacked.
“Police are still at the scene, the injured were taken to hospital for medical attention,” said Mbele.
Lindelani councillor Jabulani Sibiya, also a IFP leader in KwaDukuza, said that as he had not been there he could not say if the IFP were responsible for the attack.
“I must stress that one of our IFP members was also injured but I don’t know how the whole thing started.
IFP national chairperson Blessed Gwala condemned the violence and said that a peace committee had been formed late last year.
“That committee was formed to ensure that there is peace in KwaDukuza.
“Both the ANC and IFP need to work together and ensure that the members are not provoking one another,” said Gwala.
Provincial ANC spokesperson, Cde Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, said the party strongly condemned “such barbaric behavior against our members, who were campaigning peacefully when they were brutally attacked”.
“ANCKZN demands immediate action from The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) as the IFP is clearly in breach of the elections code of conduct as signed by all political parties on Tuesday 19 March 2019, which said code of conduct, allows all political parties the right to campaign freely without being threatened.
“We also demand an immediate end to this violence and a prompt response from law enforcement agencies as these hooligans continue to run amock and spit in the face of democracy.”
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