‘Ramaphosa will remove PEC’

THE aggrieved faction of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has pinned its hopes on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa becoming the party’s next president and removing the nullified provincial executive committee (PEC) from office.

The faction, led by former ANC provincial chairman Senzo Mchunu, supports Ramaphosa, while the PEC under provincial chaiman Sihle Zikalala backs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court late last month reserved its judgment on the PEC’s application for leave to appeal against the same court’s September judgment, which ruled that the 2015 provincial conference was unlawful and void.

The provincial conference elected Zikalala to succeed Mchunu, but the latter’s supporters challenged the outcome, alleging irregularities.

The court had also reserved its judgment on an application by the aggrieved faction to have the PEC kicked out of office.

With the courts expected to close on Friday for the festive season, this judgment could possibly be delivered next month.

However, the spokesperson for the aggrieved party, Sthembiso Mshengu, said Ramaphosa’s new NEC would be able to decide on the future of the PEC.

“The NEC will deal with this matter. We don’t have to wait for next year,” he said. He added that Ramaphosa would be expected to talk about the future of the PEC when he delivered his closing remarks as the new president at the end of the conference.

“We are going to the conference to elect the leadership of the ANC that will act on this matter,” he said.

ANC provincial spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli said the PEC had not been informed that the matter would return to court this week. He also said if the ruling was against the PEC it would not affect Dlamini Zuma’s support as the PEC comprised 27 members out of 870 provincial voting delegates.

“Cyril will not be elected ANC president,” he said.