Nomonde Geza, 65, a staunch ANC member, cannot do most of the household chores she used to enjoy before her arm was broken during the infamous ANC “festival of chairs” meeting that resulted in eight members being hospitalised.
It has been four years since the ugly scenes where ANC members from two factions, one led by former provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane and another by former provincial chair Phumulo Masualle, hurled chairs at each other during a provincial elective conference in East London in 2017.
However, the ANC councillor from Alice still bears the brunt of the brutal violence of that day.
“I’m old and my arm still gets very sore, especially in winter. Somehow, I feel like less of a mother because now I can barely do any of the household things that I loved to do before my injury. I can’t do laundry nor clean the house. What pains me more is that the national leadership of my party did nothing to help us. Also, some members of the party aligned to Mabuyane still mock us [the victims] when we meet at party meetings. That just shows how divided and intolerant we have become,” said Geza on Thursday.
Geza was hit with a chair after an argument about the adoption of credentials broke out. Cellphone footage shows members throwing chairs at others seated at the other end of the venue.
“I broke my arm and had to go to Frere Hospital because I was not on medical aid. Branch members took me to a private hospital and paid the bill. My children saw the video and shouted at me to leave ‘this sh*t of a political party’. I couldn’t, despite the hurt and resentment I felt when President [Cyril Ramaphosa] came days later and only met with Amathole branch members and not the victims. He showed little care towards us. The assault case we opened with the police never saw the light of day,” said Geza.
Among those whose lives were changed is a teacher who has not been able to return to work since. Liziwe Mathyolo had to have five stitches to her head after she was hit with a chair. However, it is the injuries from her back that still haunt her.
“My back tells me when the weather is too hot or too cold because I start feeling pain. The first two weeks after the incident, I was confined to my room as I could not move my body,” said Mathyolo.
Like Geza, she too opened an assault case that never reached court.
“An investigator came to my house a few months later to get further details. That was the last time I heard of my case,” said Mathyolo.
The ANC Youth League’s OR Tambo regional convener, Mawande Ndakisa, said the national body never addressed the East London matter but chose to focus on a political solution in its final report prepared by Sbusiso Ndebele.
“If the party doesn’t take action such incidents will keep happening. Violence has become part of the ANC because that is how Ramaphosa got onto the seat of power,” said Ndakisa.
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