Africa-Press – South-Africa. ANC MP Boy Mamabolo has initiated a legal challenge against the governing party accusing it of illegally removing his name from the national candidate list after “240 branches” elected him.
In court papers seen by TimesLIVE Mamabolo, claiming he is a victim of a factionalism within the ANC, says his name was on the list but was removed. “About 240 branches nominated me in accordance to the ANC’s constitution, to be entered into the Limpopo province to the national list of candidates to serve at National Assembly.
I accepted the nomination and was interviewed and vetted. After the provincial committee satisfied itself that I met the requirements, I was placed on Limpopo’s candidate list,” court papers read.
Mamabolo said the list was then adopted by the ANC Limpopo provincial executive and later by the national electoral committee with his name on it. He said this was confirmed by ANC electoral committee secretary Chief Livhuwani Matsila in February.
However, he learnt with shock on March 8 when the list was submitted to the Electoral Commission that his name had been “removed”. “I have made various efforts to get an explanation for what appears to be an unlawful manipulation of the candidate list and subversion of democratic will of the ANC constituency that nominated me.
I do not know at which stage or which ANC structure the decision to remove my name was taken. ” Mamabolo said his “misfortunes” started in May 2023 when he received a text from electoral committee secretary Matsila advising him to align with the ANC chairperson in Peter Mokaba region, John Mpe, to “avoid problems” relating to the list.
This was almost a year before the party’s national list was concluded. “I later established that Chief Matsila’s advice was not innocuous as I understood it to be.
He was cautioning me to align myself with a particular faction within the ANC to ensure that my name remains on the candidate list without difficulties.
This will be important when I address the court about the apparent unlawful manipulation of the ANC candidate list which I ask the court to set aside the decision of the ANC to remove me from the candidate list,” he said.
Mamabolo told the party in an internal letter that his removal from parliament would negatively affect his family, particularly his minor children. “The ANC’s unjustified decision to remove my name from its candidate list has detrimental and far reaching consequences for me.
The decision of removing my name without any justification, irremediably strips me of my constitutional political rights to stand for public office in forthcoming elections.
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Mamabolo’s attorney Ezra Mzwandile Matlala has lodged an urgent application in the Johannesburg high court to be heard before the finalisation of the candidate list by the IEC on April 10.
ANC Limpopo spokesperson Jimmy Machaka told TimesLIVE the party had not done “anything wrong”. “The party has done everything in accordance with the constitution.
At no moment did the leadership of the ANC remove comrade Boy. Matters of deployment are privileges, they are not a right or a must. The party reserves the right to afford you the opportunity and equally withdraw such opportunity,” Machaka said.
He was confident the ANC would not be found to have acted unlawfully against Mamabolo. “The ANC will defend itself. There is nothing that was done outside the provisions of the constitution.
In this instance, we are pleading with comrade Boy to desist from any conduct that seeks to bring the party into disrepute. These types of allegations are very unfortunate. The ANC in Limpopo has not done anything wrong against him.”
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