Armed guards, police at youth league meeting

Tensions ahead of the eagerly awaited ANC Youth League congress have reached boiling point, with the Julius Malema-supporting KwaZulu-Natal provincial leadership hiring bodyguards to keep away rowdy opponents from a party meeting.

A branch general meeting in KwaNzimakhwe, near Margate on the South Coast, ended in chaos, with police said to have fired rubber bullets at disgruntled youth league members who had been locked out of the meeting - convened by the provincial executive committee (PEC) - on Thursday.

The area is the home ground of anti-Malema youth league leader Wandile Mkhize, who is part of the line-up punted to challenge Malema.

He is aligned with the faction that wants Gauteng youth league chairman Lebogang Maile elected new president in June and is running for the post of secretary-general on Maile's ticket.

The Malema-supporting PEC has been accused of manipulating processes in the troublesome branch and intimidating members by enlisting armed private security.

Another allegation is that legitimate branch members were locked out of the meeting.

Questions have also been raised as to why the entire PEC decided to attend a meeting of a single branch.

A branch member told the Sunday Times that he was kicked out of the venue when he queried the legitimacy of most of those at the meeting.

With the league's elective congress less than three months away, branch general meetings are becoming battlegrounds for control between the warring factions, as they will determine the delegates who will attend the national congress.

Congress of South African Students president Bongani Mani, who was in the area on Thursday, accused the PEC of "factionalism and barbarism".

He described the incident as a "disgrace in the history of the youth league". He said he had decided to attend the meeting after making school visits in the area.

Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo told the Sunday Times that armed security was necessary because of the volatile situation.

"It's election time ... and the senior leadership of the youth league (in KwaZulu-Natal) was there. You can't just go to an area where there is a security threat."

He denied that the PEC's focus on the area had anything to do with the fact that it is Mkhize's branch. "They blocked the road and burnt tyres. If there are allegations that the police fired rubber bullets, it's a lie. They used (blanks); it was only gun sound. Otherwise, the meeting went smoothly," said Mtolo.