What was supposed to be a historic day filled with lots of memories, turned into a silent political protest when a group of five young people with placards that read “#FeesMustFall” and “Pay Back the Money” peacefully joined a choir that had opened the Satmas with the national anthem at the Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng.

The choir was singing a second song when they were joined on stage by the uninvited members‚ displaying the placards‚ some of which also read “No to Child and Women Abuse” and “Stop Rape“.

The stage manager did not notice that the placards were shown on stage.

The whole drama unfolded while Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi was seated in the front row.

Founder of the awards Dumisani Gobo later apologised for the incident and promised to deal with those who interrupted the programme.

“We would like to apologise for the placards that were shown here earlier. We do not know those people and they were not authorised by us.

“We are going to deal with them decisively‚” he said.

National Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete was at the event‚ but DispatchLive could not confirm whether she was present when the incident took place.

Picture credit: Sowetan Live

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