Blood on the floor:

Lungisa vows ‘no voting here’ before chairs fly, blood flows in East London

MOMENTS before chairs started flying in the East London International Conference Centre, Andile Lungisa is seen refusing to back down as senior members plead with him to calm the delegates.

In a series of video clips, a crowd can be seen singing a pro-Phumulo Masualle song, disrupting the conference for up to three hours when they refused to vote on credentials.

National executive committee (NEC) members Zizi Kodwa and Bheki Cele are seen intervening.

But Lungisa was having none of it, saying that “no voting will happen here”.

NEC member Lindiwe Zulu is also seen trying to control the crowd, but her pleas fall on deaf ears.

The purpose of the session was to adopt credentials and proceed to nominations and the election of the new provincial leadership.

But this was only done at about 2am yesterday, with the last ballot papers cast at about 7am.

The conference had already been delayed by up to a day after another group forced their way in on Friday.

The whole of Saturday was used to verify the legitimacy of delegates.

Despite the verifications, the crowd remained disgruntled with the cohort of delegates – and eventually the first chair was thrown.

In one clip, former chairman Masualle is seen trying to stop the disruption, but one delegate shouts: “Leave us alone, get out of this.” Masualle obliges and leaves. Proof of how hectic the scuffle between the delegates had been was seen in the blood on the floor at the entrance, which no longer had a metal detector as it was used in the battle.

Also lined up at the door were more than 10 pairs of shoes, believed to belong to those who were either taken to hospital for treatment or kicked out of the conference.

Eight delegates were injured in the melee and taken to hospital in ambulances. They were all discharged later yesterday.

Zizi Kodwa said it was obvious the disruption was coordinated.

“They would sing in unison, one side, then the other, and meet in the centre.

“We met until 3am, planning the kind of security that you saw here [on Saturday].”