With the ANC’s Eastern Cape elective conference hanging in the balance, confusion and defiance reigned on Thursday night after a last-minute court order cast doubt on the gathering.
An interim interdict granted by the high court in KuGompo City cast uncertainty over whether the conference would proceed over the weekend.
Though the ANC had filed an appeal, there was still no clarity on whether the event — or party president Cyril Ramaphosa’s anticipated address — would go ahead.
On the ground, however, it was business as usual.
Delegates streamed into the packed Orient Theatre and sang struggle songs as they queued to register for the conference scheduled this weekend, with many insisting it would go ahead regardless.
“Iyaqhuba,” some chanted, meaning the conference would sit.
Chris Hani regional deputy chair Madoda Papiyana said branches were ready and waiting for direction.
“We’ve registered all our delegates,” he said.
“We are just waiting on the leadership to brief us on the way forward but we are ready, especially if you look at all the regions registered.
“The only thing left now is to make sure that tomorrow, we proceed with the conference.
“We will start the conference at 10am.”
Papiyana said the ANC’s appeal meant the conference continued.
Former Nelson Mandela Bay regional secretary and Ward 46 branch member Luyolo Nqakula said it was a moment for reflection for the ANC.
“This calls upon the national leadership to descend upon the province and probably begin a process of digging deeper and driving a process that seeks to unite this historic province.
“The reality is that no matter how you try to interpret it, there is a court order.
“I am a voting branch delegate, but I don’t want to engage in contemptuous behaviour in defying the courts of our land, which is why I’ve not even registered or even collected my own tag up until there’s clarity.
“I don’t think the spirit of appealing against court judgments is in furtherance of the unification of the province itself.
“If anything, it seeks to divide.”
Acting judge Babalo Metu directed the ANC, its provincial executive committee (PEC), secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, and provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi to adhere to the party’s governance instruments, including its constitution and conference guidelines.
The order specifically barred the party from holding the conference this weekend.
The court also granted leave for parties to file supplementary papers ahead of a final determination and ordered the ANC, its PEC and Mbalula to pay costs.
However, the ANC appealed against the decision, saying the court had erred in entertaining the application in circumstances in which “it lacked territorial jurisdiction to do so”.
Interim court orders usually cannot be appealed, stopping disputes from dragging out cases — but they can be challenged if they cause serious or irreversible harm.
The ANC Limpopo provincial conference is also in limbo after a court reserved its judgment in an urgent application seeking to interdict the sitting.
The Limpopo High Court is expected to deliver its judgment on Friday.
At the centre of the contest in the Eastern Cape are outgoing provincial chair Oscar Mabuyane and Ngcukayitobi, whose political relationship has come full circle, from allies to rivals battling for control of the party in the province.
Mabuyane is contesting a third term.
The conference would see the Ngcukayitobi faction, aligned to the “Thina Bantu” grouping, squaring off against Mabuyane’s “Thina Masebe” faction.
It is understood that Mabuyane is eyeing a third term to bolster his national political ambitions, with his name circulating as a potential ANC deputy president on Mbalula’s slate.
Mbalula is believed by some to be aiming for the party presidency in 2027.
A Mabuyane supporter said the conference needed to sit so the ANC chair could be re-elected.
“Mabuyane is winning this. He’s going to be re-elected, and after that, he’s going to the top seven,” the supporter said.
“We’re good with the deputy president, but national chair is also an option on the table.”
The national chair option refers to the chair of the Unity Campaign slate, backing Patrice Motsepe for ANC president.
Mabuyane’s slate includes Mlungisi Mvoko as deputy chair, Lusanda Sizani as secretary, Helen Sauls-August as deputy secretary and Nanziwe Rulashe as treasurer.
Ngcukayitobi’s camp has Fundile Gade as deputy chair, Nqakula as secretary, Yandiswa Vara as deputy secretary and Zolile Williams as treasurer.
Highlighting the widening rift, Ngcukayitobi and outgoing provincial treasurer Williams were expected at a media briefing on Thursday but were absent.
The briefing was held after the interim interdict was granted.
Earlier this week, three members of the ANC in the Buffalo City municipality approached the court to stop the conference.
Led by ANC member Lwazi Rotya, they sought to overturn Mbalula’s verification report, which confirmed that the province had met the required 70% branch threshold to proceed with the conference.
Earlier in the week, Mbalula said only a tsunami would stop the conference.
On this, Rotya said: “The tsunami has descended in East London.”
A separate application by disgruntled ANC members from the Joe Gqabi region over branch disputes was postponed, with no new hearing date set.
The matter was removed from the urgent roll following a draft order agreed upon by all parties in the high court in KuGompo City on Thursday.
Sauls-August was also absent from the media briefing but Mabuyane said she was assisting 1,235 delegates with registration.
The ANC has 710 branches across the province.
About 60% of delegates had registered at the time of the media briefing.
Mabuyane said Ngcukayitobi was meant to attend.
“We don’t know his whereabouts, and he’s not here.
“We can only say we expected to see him here at this press briefing.”
Mabuyane said the party’s provincial executive committee had agreed to abide by the urgent interdict handed down by Metu.
However, he said the party would appeal against the decision.
“We appreciate the window; we can exhaust some legal avenues to ensure justice is served and fairness is attended to in its logical conclusion.
“Our counsel said, based on uniform rules of court, we can take this judgment to another level.
“It’s a judgment that looks like an interim order, but when you look at it, it has far-reaching implications for the ANC and its systems.”
Mabuyane said the ANC was confident the appeal would be successful.
“All ANC members have rights, but those rights are anchored on duties that are anchored in the constitution of the ANC.”
He was quick to point out there was no crisis in the ANC in the province.
“One of the most unfortunate things about this is that when the ruling was made, nearly 60% of delegates were already registered, and that tells you the conference was already in motion.
“We just want members to understand and appreciate that conferences of the ANC are contested in ANC conferences and not in the court of law.
“The ANC has over-regulated itself in terms of its internal processes.
“Some of these issues we see in court papers are still going through processes.”
In a dramatic escalation, some of the ANC’s top leaders — including justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi — were threatened with a contempt of court application after the party was said to be pushing ahead with its Eastern Cape elective conference.
The lawyer for the disgruntled Buffalo City applicants wrote to the ANC’s lawyers hours after the interim interdict, saying the appeal application was irregularly filed without any authority.
At the media briefing, Kubayi said the court did not instruct them to vacate the East London ICC and Orient Theatre.
“Unless they can show us in papers where the court said we must vacate the venues ... It is nowhere,” Kubayi said.
“We have not been instructed not to talk to our structures.
“It would be irresponsible of the leadership to ignore our people.
“The applicant must not ask for what the court has not given them.
“They have not asked the court to vacate the buildings.
“Are they going to pay for that?
“We have accommodation booked.
“Must the delegates sleep on the streets?”
She said meetings were ongoing to look at the best possible ways to resolve the issue.
“There are delegates here and they deserve an explanation on why their conference is not sitting.
“What we want to communicate is that we respect the court and we respect the decision.”
She said the party had no intention of defying the court.
“What we’re seeking is to interpret the order, and as it’s being interpreted, we’re seeking advice.
“Both teams from the ANC nationally and provincially have been looking at the order.”
Kubayi said they wanted to set aside the decision and reiterate that the NEC and PEC always followed due process.
“That’s any branch that’s not happy, go through dispute processes.
“More than 100 appeals were before the provincial dispute committee, and they were processed.”
- Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world.
The Herald
