Limpopo - Police kept close watch on Thursday morning after the ANC's nomination conference in Limpopo turned violent on Wednesday evening.
“The situation is now calm. We are still having deployments in identified areas - even at the conference centre itself,” spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
Two men were arrested on Wednesday night when a group of people tried to force their way into the conference centre. They allegedly pelted police with stones when police were trying to talk to them.
They were believed to be supporters of President Jacob Zuma. Police used a water cannon to disperse them.
Mulaudzi said they were not delegates to the conference.
The two men who were arrested were the group's leaders. They would appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on public violence charges soon.
Mulaudzi said police would keep watch until the conference finished.
“We will be there until the conference finishes, and I think we did the best on our part since yesterday because now the situation is calm. However we are not working alone because there is private security company as well,” he said.
The African National Congress had to abandon its conference on Saturday after Zuma supporters stormed the venue and intimidated delegates. The Limpopo ANC members were trying to nominate candidates to stand for leadership posts at the party's national elective conference in Mangaung next week.
ANC provincial spokesman Makonde Mathiva could not be reached for an update on Thursday morning. - Sapa