A DA EVENT to unveil council candidates nearly turned ugly when ANC members tried to disrupt it in Kuyasa, Khayelitsha, yesterday.
The DA said a group of people wearing ANC T-shirts danced and sang inside a community hall where DA party leader Mmusi Maimane and mayoral candidate Patricia de Lille were addressing supporters.
The ANC, however, said it did not sanction members to disrupt the event and, similarly, its members were not encouraged to disrupt other parties when they were campaigning.
ANC provincial spokesperson Jabu Mfusi said the ANC signed a code of conduct with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to keep the campaigning free, fair and non-violent.
The DA was unveiling Thanduxolo Wili as the Ward 97 candidate and Soraya Rigby as the Ward 99 candidate.
The DA media manager in the City, Cameron Arendse, said the protesting group had displayed their intolerance and fear of the DA in Khayelitsha.
Arendse said the party was intending to lodge a complaint with the IEC.
He said a group of people, wearing ANC T-shirts, barged into the gathering, disrupted the event and intimidated public representatives and members.
Arendse said the DA supporters and members refused to engage in political violence and the disruptors were removed by the police.
But police spokesperson Andre Traut said police had no record of the matter.
“It is important that elections be free and fair,” Arendse said, adding that the disruptive tactics and intimidation of DA members and representatives go against the spirit of free and fair elections.