ANC North West members take conference fight straight to Constitutional Court

ANC members want an interim team to be appointed pending a "lawful" elective conference.

Disgruntled members of the African National Congress (ANC) in the North West are not letting up and are seeking direct access to the Constitutional Court to have the provincial conference outcome declared null and void.

The North West elective conference held three weeks ago reconvened over the weekend to wrap up outstanding matters and elect additional provincial executive committee (PEC) members.

Former ANC MP Nono Maloyi’s slate was elected at the previous sitting that was marred by countless delays, disruptions and allegations of bogus delegates, with members filing separate court applications to halt proceedings.

Ahead of nominations for the top five positions, North West High Court Judge Frances Maria Snyman granted Tshepo Bosman and others an interdict barring the 20 interim provincial committee (IPC) members from voting.

Former provincial chairperson Supra Mahumapelo also threw the spanner in the works, sending a letter of demand, from Mafikeng law firm Zisiswe Attorneys, to the ANC acting secretary general Paul Mashatile, calling for the conference to be stopped, citing an illegitimate delegation from disbanded branches.

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Entire conference must be declared unlawful

In the latest application, Lebogang Medupe and four others want the apex court to declare the decision by provincial convenor Obed Bapela and his team allowing the conference to continue after Snyman’s ruling as unlawful.

The court papers dated 26 August 2022, and seen by The Citizen, listed Zisiswe Attorneys and Johannesburg attorneys Albert Jacobs Inc. acting on behalf of the applicants.

“That it be declared that the ANC’s 9th provincial conference of the North West that took place on the 12th – 14th August 2022 and subsequently postponed to the 26th – 28th August 2022, is held in violation of the ANC constitution and that the said conference, its decisions / resolutions and/or outcome are unlawful and be set aside,” read the application.

The applicants further want an interim team to be appointed to run the provincial structures “pending the election of a lawfully constituted provincial executive committee of the ANC in the North West”.

The top five provincial leaders led by chairperson Maloyi and the ANC are listed as defendants in the application.

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