Africa-Press – South-Africa. The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has dismissed an application for an urgent interdict to halt the ANC’s Mpumalanga conference.
The urgent case was held over four hours, while the ANC in Mpumalanga, at the same time, began holding its elective conference.
Judge Edwin Molahlehi said the case had been removed due to a lack of urgency. The applicants will be liable for the costs.
Two ANC members, Vilanculo Francisco and Edward Mahlangu, filed the urgent application on Thursday. They are from Mpumalanga’s eMalahleni region.
The two argued the ANC’s national working committee (NWC) had no powers to appoint a provincial task team in Mpumalanga.
The NWC disbanded the structure in early March.
A provincial task team was appointed, filled primarily with former provincial executive committee (PEC) members.
Mahlangu and Francisco asked the court to declare that “only the NEC [national executive committee] of the ANC has powers to dissolve the PEC structures of the ANC” and only the NEC could, therefore, appoint a task team.
The pair asked the high court to declare that the NEC failed in its fiduciary duty when it failed to set aside the road map put in place by an illegitimate previous PEC structure.
They also asked Molahlehi to interdict the conference from going ahead.
Mpumalanga conference to be held despite court action, ANC insists
Molahlehi questioned the ANC members’ legal representative, Lebogang Raphiri, on the case being filed late when the ANC’s decision on the conference was announced on 28 March.
Raphiri said the members could not wait for it to be heard on 6 April because the ANC Mpumalanga conference would have ended by then.
He argued there was no remedy for the aggrieved ANC members after the conference had been allowed to end.
Raphiri added the ANC had been unresponsive on the case and refused to respond to the concerned members.
The legal representative for the ANC, Ayitey Ayayee, said the applicants lacked an understanding of the ANC’s constitution.
Ayayee said the NWC had the power to act outside NEC boundaries because the NEC structure was not always in plenary.
The ANC also argued there were structures within the party that allowed for disputes to be filed.
The party said the case was not urgent, and R6 million had already been spent in the conference.
Conference full-steam ahead
Meanwhile at Witbank Dam, where the conference began after a four-hour delay, ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile called for unity within the party.
Mashatile said the ANC national office was aware there had been conflicts “in a number of our structures” within the Mpumalanga ANC and called for unity, saying should the party continue playing its role as a leader in society, an undivided ANC was required.
“I had to call for unity among our members but also for them to focus on renewing their structures, their branches and also to work with communities.”
He added internal friction between members was caused by them placing a lot more focus on their own desires and not addressing the needs of communities.
“To be successful in this phase of our struggle, the ANC also needs to draw into its own rank men and women of conviction who are driven only by the desire to serve the people, selflessly without seeking personal or material gain.
“We require tried and tested cadres whose only motivation is the genuine love they have for their country and its people, as well their movement.
“In other words, we need true revolutionaries, organised under the banner of a strong and united ANC to succeed in our quest for radical change,” said Mashatile.
The conference ends on Sunday.
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