A Soweto ward by-election has resulted in some tense clashes between ActionSA activists and ANC supporters. One ANC fan even threatened to shoot them, according to ActionSA members. On camera, some of the arguing and alleged intimidation took place.
On June 1st, voters in Ward 53 in Dobsonville will go to the polls. When ActionSA activists arrived in the region on Saturday to campaign, things rapidly heated up.
Sello Mabelebele, an ActionSA member, posted video of an incident with a man wearing an ANC shirt on Twitter. The man threatened to shoot the ActionSA campaigners if they did not move, according to Mebelebele.
Herman Mashaba, the party’s head, was quick to condemn the video. He also stated that members of the African National Congress were preventing his party from campaigning.
“I am on my way to Dobsonville Police Station to lay criminal charges against these criminals preventing our Actionairs from campaigning. Will not rest until they are criminally charged. We don’t live in a jungle.”
Herman Mashaba
Mashaba set for more big gains in Soweto?
Michael Beaumont, the National Chairperson of ActionSA, believes his party will defeat the ANC in Ward 53 in June. During last year’s local government elections, the Mashaba-led party received 21 percent of the vote in Soweto.
Only six municipalities were contested by the party last year.
Mashaba has been heavily chastised this week. He has been accused of fueling the flames of xenophobia by the DA and several other organizations.
On Wednesday night in Diepsloot, a Zimbabwean national was slain by a crowd asking to see his passport.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been critical of the police’s handling of foreign nationals since then. It’s what he calls a “apartheid way.”
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