Gwede Mantashe

S’thembile Cele / City Press / Twitter

Oh, the disrespect: Gwede Mantashe shut down by ANC KZN crowd [video]

A nightmare in Zuma country for the ANC chairperson.

Gwede Mantashe

S’thembile Cele / City Press / Twitter

It was an evening to forget for ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, as his attempts to address delegates in KZN were drowned out by the defiant crowd.

The gathering at the University of Zululand was initially meant to be for the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Elective Conference. However, as News24 report, the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that the event could not go ahead as billed.

Why was #ANCKZN called off?

Protesters have claimed the conference would not be legitimate due to the outcomes of local Branch General Meetings (BGMs). Many of these meetings saw party members excluded from participating, thus invalidating the results.

Nonetheless, the PEC became a “consultative conference” and the show went on. Mantashe was stepping in as keynote speaker for Cyril Ramaphosa, who is currently at the G7 meeting in Canada.

We bet he wishes he never bothered. Every time he took to the stage, Mantashe was spoken over or drowned out by the singing crowds. There were even a few boos for the chairperson when he stepped up to the podium:

Watch Gwede Mantashe’s nightmare at #ANCKZN

Mantashe was not best pleased with the reception he got, either. The crowds seemed to single him out for rough treatment, whilst respecting other speakers – and he wasn’t afraid to call them out for it:

Despite trying to battle against the noise, Mantashe was unable to finish the address. The conference was called off on Saturday morning.