UPDATE: Court may rule today on whether Eastern Cape ANC conference will go ahead

EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this article reflected that the court had granted an interim interdict in the matter and that it would be heard this week. The article has since been amended to more accurately reflect that a judgment has been reserved.

Disgruntled ANC members have turned to the Eastern Cape High Court in East London to force ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and the provincial executive committee (PEC) to pause plans for this weekend’s elective provincial conference.

The ruling followed an urgent application by three members – Lwazi Rotya, Sinethemba Mpande and Nompumelelo Mzothwa – seeking an interdict against the gathering, which they regarded as unlawful and unconstitutional.

The court reserved judgment, which may be delivered on Thursday.

The ANC said on Wednesday that the court process remains sub judice, with judgment reserved and proceedings continuing.

“Any suggestion of a conclusive outcome is both premature and irresponsible.”

High court Eastern Cape ANC provincial conference

The applicants accused Mbalula and the PEC of unlawfully approving the conference, despite unresolved disputes from branches.

Mbalula signed off the final verification report on 18 March. But it was argued that the report was issued only a week before the conference date, not the required two weeks.

This deprived the branches of the opportunity to contest its validity and resolve disputes in advance, it was claimed.

It was further claimed that the ANC would not address the issues raised by 20 March, meaning the conference may proceeded unlawfully and excluded qualifying members.

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This amounted to a violation of the party’s constitution and guidelines governing branch, regional, provincial and national conferences, it was argued.

The applicants further challenged the verification report’s claim that 535 of 554 branches had qualified, surpassing the 70% threshold needed to proceed. They argued that no preliminary verification report was issued, as required by ANC guidelines.

They further allege that the figures in Mbalula’s verification report were inconsistent with regional reports. Some branches that should have qualified were excluded, while others that did not qualify were approved.

At the time of the court application, many disputes remained unresolved, with branches still awaiting rulings from the provincial dispute resolution committee.

‘ANC’s actions violated’

The applicants argued that the ANC’s actions violated their constitutional rights as citizens and their contractual rights under the party’s constitution, rules and directives.

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