JOHANNESBURG - Ahead of his scheduled visit to Alexandra, Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday condemned what he said was incitement of violence, allegedly by the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg.
In a statement, Mashaba said that new evidence has emerged about how the ANC was allegedly actively involved in stoking the fires of protests in Johannesburg.
"This has arisen from a standard Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) search operation which discovered an ANC branded vehicle which was loaded with old tyres, in the Berea area of the inner city of Johannesburg," Mashaba said.
"This discovery included ANC paraphernalia, branded material as well as delegate accreditation cards of two ANC members for the ANC Gauteng List Conference in December 2018. One of these members were in the vehicle at the time of the search and has subsequently been arrested."
ANC Joburg spokesperson Jolidee Matongo was not immediately available for comment as his phone was switched off.
Mashaba said the arrested suspect was in police custody and JMPD was working hard to trace the ownership of the vehicle.
He said that it was evident over the past two weeks that the recent unrest in Johannesburg has been the subject of the ANC hijacking the legitimate grievances of communities.
"I will be arranging a meeting with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Public Protector who have initiated a joint investigation into the recent events in Alexandra," Mashaba said.
"It is critical that this kind of evidence is provided to these critical Chapter 9 Institutions as a part of their investigations."