Bottles thrown at Johannesburg mayor
14 September 2017. Table Talk with the Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba at his offices in Braamfontein. Pic: Simphiwe Nkwali. © Sunday Times.
The mayor of South Africa’s commercial capital, Johannesburg, was forced to leave the stage at a meeting on Monday night after protesters threw empty water bottles and papers towards him.
Herman Mashaba said the “thuggery” of the governing African National Congress (ANC) led to the disruption of the meeting, called to discuss his plans to improve living conditions in the city’s poor Alexandra neighbourhood.
Alexandra – traditionally a stronghold of the ANC – has been hit by weeks of protests with residents complaining of poor public services, and the mushrooming of illegally built shacks.
Mr Mashaba is a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance, which ended ANC control of Johannesburg in the 2016 local government elections.
The tensions in Alexandra come as the ANC and DA are involved in a tight contest to win Johannesburg in parliamentary elections due next month.
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