Cobus Coetzee and Caryn Dolley
THE DA and ANC called a truce yesterday after tempers flared between party supporters in Khayelitsha – one of a number of incidents where violence was recorded at a handful of registration stations during the final registration weekend before this year’s general elections on May 7.
Independent Elections Commission (IEC) Western Cape head Courtney Sampson said despite these few incidents, registrations went ahead without any hindrance.
Altogether 1 578 stations were opened in the province over the weekend and problems were experienced at Manenberg, Kaymandi in Stellenbosch and Enkanini in Khayelitsha.
In Khayelitsha, senior leaders from both parties held an impromptu meeting to restore calm outside a voting station at the Enkanini informal settlement.
Earlier, DA and ANC supporters sang and hurled insults at each other.
Police spokesman André Traut said two cases of assault were registered at the Harare police station on Saturday after two women aged 42 and 49 allegedly assaulted each other outside the registration station in Ekanini.
Violence outside registration stations at the weekend include:
l The clash between supporters of the ANC and the DA in Enkanini.
l Protesters in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch who apparently tried to prevent residents from
registering on Saturday.
l Gang violence in Manenberg on Saturday where volunteers had to crawl on the ground for cover when a group of apparent gangsters opened fire.
Outside the province, two registration stations in Bekkersdal, Gauteng, were closed after petrol bombs were thrown at them and registration staff threatened.
The IEC estimated about 1.2 million people visited registration stations across the country over the weekend and about half of them were new voters aged between 18 and 29.
Sampson could not say how many people visited registration stations in the Western Cape.
In Khayelitsha, politicians were upbeat about voters registering despite the unrest.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Nomaindia Mfeketo, who is also a member of the ANC national executive committee, kissed DA MP Masizole Mnqasela, saying there was no bad blood between their parties. She said a meeting with Mnqasela and Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela had been held to resolve “conflict between ANC volunteers and the DA”.
“With the leadership of the DA we just stressed the importance of tolerance. We fought for this freedom, we fought for all parties to participate (in the elections),” Mfeketo said. “We need to emphasise to members not to provoke and not to allow yourself to be provoked.”
Mnqasela said they had “resolved the political pandemonium” that had erupted between their parties.
Both parties agreed their volunteers would refrain from singing in front of registration stations and would not provoke supporters of other parties.
In Manenberg, party volunteers fell to their knees on hot tar to avoid being wounded when a group of apparent gangsters opened fire at them at a registration station on Saturday. Despite the ordeal they were back at their posts yesterday.
“We’re not brave. We’re also scared. But what can we do? We need to support our families and that’s why we need to stand here,” Farieda Adams, 58, a DA volunteer, said outside a community centre.
Adams said she and her fellow DA supporters were targeted. She said DA leader Helen Zille was to have visited the registration centre on Saturday, but after the shooting she had been told it was not safe.
Walied Bruintjies, 48, an ANC supporter, said the area in which they were stationed was known as “the battlefield” because it was between the Americans and Hard Livings’ territories.
Adams and Bruintjies said they were so used to shootings in the area that when guns were fired nearby they stood and watched.
Yesterday ANC provincial chairman Marius Fransman visited the registration station and said it was important for leaders to visit areas affected by gang violence.