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FILE: ANC members at a rally.
The African National Congress in the Eastern Cape says it will await the court’s advice on a suitable date to hold its 10th provincial elective conference.
This is after the KuGompo (East London) High Court interdicted the party from convening the conference, which was expected to sit between the 26th and 29th of this month.
Three members of the ANC in the Eastern Cape approached the courts to have the conference interdicted, citing verification irregularities and flouting of conference guidelines.
The aggrieved members say they are concerned about the party’s leadership’s failure to lend an ear to its members when disputes pertaining to the contravention of the party’s constitution are raised.
The ANC’s alleged defiance of the interim court order, ordering the party to refrain from convening the conference, has landed the party in hot water.
With the legal representatives of the aggrieved members, filing a contempt of court application against the party’s SG Fikile Mbalula, Convener of NEC deployees in the Eastern Cape, Mmamoloko Kubayi and Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane as first, second and third respondents respectively, and NEC deployees to the province.
The party’s decision to pause the conference has led to a consent order, where the applicants and respondents’ legal representatives agreed to remove the application from the urgent roll to a normal opposed motion roll.
The slight pause in the conference has been welcomed by applicant, Lwazi Rotya.
“We are happy and that its also a lesson to learn in terms of that we must guard against what we say publicly specifically from the office of the SG, today we’ve got new nicknames of being called Tsunami’s and it comes from that office, and the disregard of the pleas of the rank and file of the membership of the ANC, so I think today we take the win.”
Meanwhile, the provincial secretary of the party says the party is trying by all means to follow constitutional guidelines, and hopes that the advice of its lawyers will pull it out of these legal battles.
ANC EC Secretary, Lulama Ngcukaitobi, says, “We are trying to comply with every aspect and guideline of the constitution and the policy of the ANC, because that guides us in so far as convening the processes are concerned, concerning branch meetings, and BGMs. That’s why the ANC accepts the outcomes of the court and is in compliance with those outcomes.”
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has also released a statement arguing that Minister Mmaloko Kubayi’s involvement as a second respondent in this case was frivolous and done in an unprofessional manner.
A concern that the attorneys of the law firm representing the applicants say will be argued in court on a date yet to be announced.
WATCH | Mabuyane says it’s not surprising that the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provincial elective conferences were marred by legal issues. He adds that ‘’We are a serious historic stronghold of the ANC’’. pic.twitter.com/8DcwMCFlmR
— SABC News (@SABCNews) March 28, 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iB8-rWOMPo
