Branch members bid to block ANC Free State conference
DISGRUNTLED ANC branch members in the Free State, mostly aligned to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid to be the ruling party’s leader, are fighting to block the party’s provincial conference.
Yesterday, the members applied for an interdict to prevent the conference, scheduled to start on Friday.
Long serving provincial chairperson Ace Magashule is facing off with his deputy, Thabo Manyoni, for the leadership of the party. A victory for Magashule will boost former African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s campaign to replace President Jacob Zuma, while Manyoni’s victory will bolster Ramaphosa’s efforts to run the party.
Magashule was recently taken to court by a faction which called for his provincial executive to be disbanded as its mandate ended in April. The provincial top brass were subsequently forced to convene an elective congress, set to start this weekend.
Last Thursday, party members opposed to Magashule took the organisation to the Bloemfontein High Court on an urgent basis as they cried foul over processes followed during meetings held in preparation for the conference. The application was dismissed with costs, a decision they are appealing.
In a letter from their lawyers to Judge President Mahume Molemela, the members complained that their application was struck off the roll without reasons. “We have made a request to be furnished with reasons for the order, including the order for costs of three counsel. The case is urgent as it is related to the provincial conference of the ANC scheduled to commence on 1 December,” it reads.
The group said their bid to oppose the outcomes of their branch meetings had a “direct and material bearing” on the upcoming provincial congress.
ANC provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko said the provincial conference would go ahead despite attempts to block it.
“Nothing Meeko said.
In 2012, the Free State participated without a provincial executive committee in the ANC’s Mangaung conference, after a rival faction successfully launched a court bid that saw the structure being declared illegitimate. will stop it,”