ANC supporters disrupt Cope meeting

A meeting that was scheduled to be addressed by Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa Lekota was disrupted by hundreds of African National Congress (ANC) supporters, news reports said on Friday.

The Mercury reported that about 50 Cope supporters had gathered at a hall on Thursday to hear Lekota speak when about 200 ANC supporters stormed the hall in Verulam, north of Durban.

The Mercury reported that the supporters, most of them wearing T-shirts with ANC president Jacob Zuma’s picture and brandishing Zuma banners, burst into the hall and toyi-toyied, preventing the meeting from getting off the ground.

The ANC members, who were transported to the venue in bakkies, threw plastic chairs at the Lekota supporters and ripped Cope posters from the walls.

According to the Mercury, the groups confronted one another, but senior Cope leaders, including former ANC stalwart Phillip Mhlongo, calmed their supporters down and prevented a fracas from breaking out.

Mhlongo told the Mercury that Lekota was in the immediate vicinity, but did not arrive at the hall because of the security risk.—Sapa