Baviaans Municipality mayor Ewald Loock was hit with a knobkerrie while trying to address protesters.

CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape has called for calm in a municipal dispute that saw the mayor of a Democratic Alliance (DA)-led municipality attacked.

Baviaans Municipality mayor Ewald Loock was hit with a knobkerrie while trying to address a group of striking municipal workers in Willowmore on Friday.

The ANC's Mlibo Qoboshiyane says labour disputes should never be settled with violence.

"We want the matters that affect the workers in that municipality to be taken seriously. We know it's been coming and that our difficulty to come to a conclusion on certain matters … the violence and how the mayor has been handled is totally unacceptable."

Baviaans is the only DA-controlled council in the Eastern Cape and has been hit by strike action with workers complaining about unequal pay compared to other towns in the municipality.

About 300 municipal workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) were protesting in Willowmore last week.