Accusations continued to fly back and forth on Sunday after African National Congress (ANC) supporters attempted to disrupt an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) rally in Esikhawini, about 20km south of Richards Bay in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday afternoon.

The rally at the Esikhawini Mall descended into chaos as public order police armed with shotguns and rubber bullets were forced to intervene to keep the peace. They formed a barrier between African National Congress (ANC) supporters and about 1000 EFF supporters on opposite sides of the road.

Stones were thrown at Malema minutes after he took to the stage. He was forcibly pushed back by his bodyguards while stones flew at the stage and he told supporters not to retaliate. “Let the police deal with these criminals,” he said.

Police then fired rubber bullets into the crowd of ANC supporters, preventing an escalation of violence.

It emerged on Sunday that both parties had submitted applications to the City of uMhlathuze (Richards Bay) municipality, both requesting a public gathering at the same venue, the Esikhawini Mall, on the same day.

“Both applications were returned to the parties with recommendations they seek alternative dates,” city spokesperson Mdu Ncalane said on Sunday.

According to Ncalane the applications were submitted in the week leading up to the EFF event. “The applications were received well in advance. Only the ANC came back to us with an alternative.” Ncalane said he was not sure which application was submitted first.

This follows confirmation from police that a violation of the Public Gatherings Act is being investigated.

Responding to reports that an ANC member had been arrested and a pistol confiscated after a shot was fired during the clash on Saturday afternoon, KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said no arrests had been made and no one had been charged with an offence relating to a firearm.

“Police are, however, investigating a violation of the Public Gatherings Act, as it seems their [EFF] application to the local municipality to permit them to gather there was turned down,” he said on Sunday.

The ANC maintained they had gathered on land next to an ANC memorial arch, which they had earlier in the week vowed to protect against the EFF, and that the memorial belonged to the ANC not the municipality.

“Therefore they did not need section 204 permission,” said an ANC insider who did not want to be named.

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said no political party needed permission to hold a meeting during an election year.

“We do not need approval or permission in order to gather. It is a constitutional right that the people of South Africa are guaranteed as far as the Bill of Rights is concerned,” Ndlozi said on Sunday.

He could not confirm whether an application had been submitted but agreed that it was necessary to inform authorities of their intention to gather on a given day.

“As far as we need to ask permission to campaign, I think that is the wrong attitude. Anywhere that we gather are public spaces. We dismiss any thinking of that sort.

“Since the EFF launched, and we have even stopped complaining about it, there have always been some effort or the other to sabotage our gatherings,” he said responding to questions about alleged disruption attempts during the EFF’s earlier meeting in Ladysmith.

Ndlozi claimed these problems were only experienced in municipalities under ANC control and the EFF had been forced on numerous occasions to approach the courts to ensure their events could carry on uninterrupted.

“They are afraid of us. The people who vote for the EFF are the same people who would vote for the ANC. When we call a meeting, we call a meeting of two political parties,” he said.