The first ANC's provincial conference, after the polarised Polokwane conference, deteriorated in similar fashion when delegates threw missiles at leaders while calling for the heads of some provincial leaders in the North West.
In scenes reminiscent of the recent chaotic ANC Youth League conference in Mangaung, the luxury resort at Sun City turned into a field of battle and confrontation between a hundred-odd disgruntled "ANC members" and the provincial leadership.
ANC national executive committee (NEC) deployees in North West had no choice but to end proceedings prematurely to deal with the problems at hand, amid claims of inflated delegate numbers.
The SABC reports that police forcibly removed about 500 ANC members from the conference in Sun City.
At the heart of the dispute are complaints by a disgruntled group calling themselves "legitimate delegates" who accuse ANC North West pro-vincial secretary Supra Mahu-mapelo and his faction of manipulating the registration process and refusing them accreditation.
The battle for the control of the ANC - between factions supporting either President Thabo Mbeki or ANC president Jacob Zuma - has seen the fight shift from the national platform to the provinces.
North West premier Edna Molewa - an Mbeki supporter - was rejected by branches after she failed to get the required 25 percent threshold.
Molewa's hopes of being re-elected chairwoman can only be salvaged if she manages to get 30 percent of delegates at the conference to support her nomination from the floor.
However, the real contenders in the battle for the control of the province are the two main factions - one led by provincial secretary Mahumapelo and the other by Klerksdorp mayor China Dodovu - who seem set to go head to head in the elections.
Mahumapelo is considered an Mbeki supporter, while Dodovu is close to the faction supporting Zuma. While Mol-ewa and Mahumapelo are Mbeki supporters, personally they do not see eye to eye - hence Molewa's absence from Mahumapelo's list.
The North West gathering is the first provincial conference since the bitter Polokwane national conference where Zuma thumped Mbeki in the race for the ANC presidency.
The fight for control of the ANC has now shifted to the provinces where the factions are vying to capture the provincial lists - for the national and provincial legislatures - for next year's general elections.
ANC chief whip Nathi Mthethwa, also an NEC de-ployee in North West, tried to calm an angry mob which stormed the conference venue demanding admission.
The group had forced their way through Sun City's gates after manhandling two marshals. They then made their way to the conference venue where they demanded the disbanding of the provincial executive committee (PEC).
Police were called in to deal with the rowdy crowd which vowed to sleep at the Sun City's conference hall until their grievances had been attended to. Soon afterwards water bottles were thrown at the provincial leaders - who ducked for cover - seated in the front.
The grouping called for the disbanding of the PEC, accusing leaders of manipulating the conference.
Mthethwa appealed for calm and informed the delegates that the conference's steering committee had decided to halt proceedings and investigate complaints. The conference would resume today.
This followed claims that the number of the conference's delegates had mysteriously shot up from about 800 to more than 1400, amid allegations that bogus delegates had been registered.