Chainsaw attack on DA motorcade

This video image shows a man wielding a chainsaw attacking the vehicle in which DA mayoral candidate Mergan Chetty was being driven, during campaigning in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday.

This video image shows a man wielding a chainsaw attacking the vehicle in which DA mayoral candidate Mergan Chetty was being driven, during campaigning in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday.

Published Jul 25, 2016

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Durban - The jamboree that characterised the DA’s election campaigning in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday was dampened when a man wielding a chainsaw charged at a vehicle the party’s mayoral candidate Mergan Chetty was seated in, which was part of a cavalcade.

Chetty said on Sunday that the attacker sliced off the side mirror with the saw.

“I shouted at him and asked him what was wrong,” he said, adding a DA flag from the vehicle got tangled in the chainsaw, causing it to seize.

Minutes afterwards, as soon as police from the back reached the front of the convoy, the man fled, dropping the chainsaw. Another person picked it up and ran away.

The incident happened in Ward 15, Imbali Township, at about 3.30pm.

Chetty said when the 75-car motorcade arrived at the ward, the road was littered with bricks and stones thrown by an angry mob of about 30 that continued to throw things at the cavalcade. A traffic vehicle escorting the vehicles did nothing to stop the mob’s conduct, he said.

“They said they were from the ANC, that it was an ANC area and they did not want us to enter,” said Chetty.

He believed that members of the ruling party had received word of the DA’s plans and route and tried to stop them from campaigning.

The day began with DA members converging at the city hall at 7am to decorate their vehicles. The slight drizzle did nothing to dampen the party’s lively atmosphere. With music and messages blaring from a loudhailer, the cavalcade proceeded to residential areas such as Woodlands and Northdale, accompanied by police and traffic officers.

Chetty said they received a warm welcome, with residents in Edendale and some wards in Imbali asking for T-shirts and hats. The greeting they got from Ward 15 caught them off guard.

He said all precautionary measures had been taken. Nothing more could be done to safeguard members.

“This incident has strengthened my resolve to continue to canvass in all areas, including Imbali.”

Having been a politician for 20 years, Chetty said he had never encountered such conduct while campaigning. Neither had any other member he had known of.

“We completed the full route despite what happened. In our democracy there should be no no-go areas.”

Four vehicles were damaged.

He added that their entourage paraded throughout the city and different suburbs without encountering any further problems.

The ANC secretary of the Moses Mabhida region, Mzi Zuma, said he was not aware of the incident. “We are signatories of the code of conduct and no member of the ANC would do that,” he said.

If there were charges laid, the allegations would be investigated and if members were found guilty, they would be disciplined.

Researcher and violence monitor Mary de Haas said the incident was unacceptable.

“This is a very serious crime in terms of the legislation around the elections. We don’t know if this was a rent-a-mob.”

Provincial electoral officer Mawethu Mosery said the matter had not come to his attention.

Nevertheless, since charges had been laid it had become a police matter.

“We do not intervene in police matters. There is a special team investigating election matters.”

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane confirmed a case of malicious damage to property had been opened.

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The Mercury

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