Gangster State

members from attending meetings. For example, branches in the
eastern Free State’s Thabo Mofutsanyana region were subjected to
‘extreme gatekeeping’. At one branch, a private security firm
‘controlled ... who entered the venue of the meeting’. The security
guards allegedly allowed ‘people who were not [branch] members, and
whose names did not appear on the attendance register ... to enter the
venue’, while ‘members in good standing were denied access despite
having had proof of their credentials and copies of their membership
forms’. Things subsequently got out of hand. ‘As a result of an
altercation that ensued because of the refusal of [the security firm] to
allow access to members in good standing, [the security guards] fired
rubber bullets. A member in good standing ... was pepper sprayed and
his wife was shot in the back with a rubber bullet.’^9
Sources told me that the security firm mentioned in the court filings
was allegedly loyal to Vusi Tshabalala, the mayor of the problem-
ridden Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality. Maluti-a-Phofung falls
within the Thabo Mofutsanyana region. Branded as a ‘gangster mayor’
by opposition politicians, Tshabalala was one of Magashule’s foremost
political allies.^10 The same security firm was called into action at
another BGM, this time in Ward 17 in Thabo Mofutsanyana. ‘A
councillor ... accused one of the applicants ... as being part of the
“CR 17 ” faction, which is a general reference to members who support
Mr Cyril Ramaphosa ... The ... applicant was then intimidated by [the
security firm] because of the association with Mr Ramaphosa. Any
person belonging to the “CR 17 ” faction or who raised a contentious
issue relating to the procedural irregularities at the meeting was
removed by [the security firm] and, at times, in a violent manner.’^11
This tactic seemingly became the norm at branches all over this