It ended in pure anarchy, as several south african parties held a valgdebat in the Cape Town suburb of Hout Bay.
in Particular, between the parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the Country Party and the Black First Country First (BLF) the mood was tense and at boiling point. It developed to the stolekast and scuffle in the Hangberg Sports and Recreation Centre, where the debate, which, incidentally, was broadcast live on television, took place, writes Russia Today.
According to the south african Daily Maverick due to the impact of disagreement on the assigned speaking time in the debate, which was divided into two panels; one for the already-elected parties, and a secondary panel for the parties not represented in parliament or government.
According to Mandy Owens, who is the spokesperson for the newly formed party Country Party, were parties of the first panel to the 90 minutes allocated for debate. The participants in the second panel was, therefore, afraid that it would go out of their talk time, and it led to the riots.
It was a problematic format, the debate was settled. The large, established political parties got priority at the first panel… They got too much time, and it went beyond our time, says Ncedisa Mpemnayam from BLF, who spoke, as the riots broke out.
Valgdebatten took place as a prelude to the south african general elections, which will take place 8. may.