On Tuesday, about 600 people formed a human shield outside the offices of the Madibeng local municipality in Rustenburg to prevent MEC China Dodovu and his administrators from entering the premises.

They alleged that, since taking over the portfolio, Dodovu had been pushing to invoke section 139(b) of the constitution, which would see the municipality being placed under the administrationof his department .

They claimed his actions were linked to the ANC's leadership race ahead of its elective conference in Mangaung in December.

Tokyo Mataboge, ANC's secretary for the Bojanala region, accused Dodovu, who is an ANC deputy chaiman in the province, of trying to gain access to the municipality's coffers to dispense patronage to friends as part of campaigning ahead of the Mangaung conference.

Dodovu is said to be a member of a faction that wants ANC president Jacob Zuma replaced by his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe.

Dodovu last night dismissed the claims, saying those accusing him of patronage probably have "something to hide".

"I have never dispensed patronage in my life; that is not my style. We're not going to be jackbooted and intimidated from exercising our constitutional rights of intervening where there are problems. We're of the view that we're not doing this because of Mangaung. Mangaung for what? There are questions they have got to answer."

He said he would meet Cooperative Governance Minister Richard Baloyi tomorrow to discuss the situation.