Thohoyandou - A scuffle broke out between police and ANC Youth League supporters outside a hall in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, on Tuesday ahead of an address by President Jacob Zuma.
The fight broke out after supporters of expelled youth league leader Julius Malema were chased out of a memorial lecture hall where Zuma was to speak.
About 300 of them were seen carrying banners, with the image of Malema, and singing: “Zuma is troubling us”.
Police arrested five people on the scene.
Some youth league supporters were apparently assaulted inside the venue by police and Zuma supporters.
Jacaranda FM's news team tweeted that police fired teargas during the scuffle and that security was tight.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa condemned the incident and told SABC radio: “Those people should have known what kind of a leader Madiba was... very radical, very militant, but a very disciplined cadre of the movement and that's how we grew through the echelons of the movement to be where he was as he left office.”
Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi and Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj could not immediately be reached for comment. - Sapa