Cape Town – People wielding knobkerries and pangas disrupted an ANC meeting in Cape Town at the weekend, a Dullah Omar region official said on Monday.

The African National Congress was tipped-off that a group had been given alcohol and planned to disrupt the proceedings in Gugulethu on Saturday night, said regional secretary Vuyiso Tyhalisisu.

As a precaution, members were asked to stay inside the Baptist Church Hall in the Barcelona informal settlement, where registration was done.

“A bakkie full of drunk people arrived and stopped in front of the venue and jumped out. They started hitting people who had not heard the call to move inside,” Tyhalisisu said.

Four people were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital.

The meeting, which had to be cancelled, was part of the nomination process for next year’s provincial and national elections.

“Our suspicion is that there is a high level of desperation as this process is concluding,” Tyhalisisu said.

“The branch secretary indicated that those people are not from the ANC. Clearly, they are linked to some characters of the ANC. If they wanted to beat any people, why would they choose the ANC meeting?”

He said the provincial executive committee had agreed to investigate the attack.

Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm had been opened.

He said the group fled in a white bakkie and no arrests had been made.

“The police can also not confirm at this stage if the incident was linked to the alleged ANC meeting which was taking place inside at the time,” he said.

– SAPA