Another integrated development plan (IDP) meeting ended on a chaotic note after residents from KwaLanga and surrounds refused to listen to councillors at the Allanridge Community Hall in Uitenhage.
The heated session saw residents singing, blowing whistles and chanting “DA must fall” when councillor John Best attempted to address them.
Best said when he and other DA councillors walked into the hall they were booed.
“When I started the meeting, a gentleman wearing an EFF hat got up on his chair and got everyone to move to the front, not even a metre from my face,” he said.
Best said the residents refused to hear the budget focus and became aggressive.
Residents overturned tables and threw chairs around.
ANC ward 50 councilllor Lunga Nombhexeza stood up on a table and chanted “down with Trollip, down” with residents following in unison.
Nombhexeza said the DA did not care about people from Lunga Nombhexeza KwaLanga or Kamesh, who were only visible to the party when it wanted their votes.
“This meeting won’t take place. We want [Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol] Trollip here and not these councillors,” Nombhexeza shouted.
While Nombhexeza was talking, Best got into an argument with one of the residents.
Nombhexeza told the resident to move away from Best and calm down. Another resident yelled that Best’s presence was provoking them.
They shouted that all DA supporters must leave the hall.
Best said he decided to call off the meeting out of concern for the safety of councillors.
Christine Williams, from McCarthy informal settlement, said residents had collapsed the meeting because they had been staying in shacks for five years without any services.