Mamabolo: ‘It’s not a train smash’
“I am somewhat disappointed, but it’s not a train smash. The judge only dismissed the urgency of the matter and the matter will now go on the normal court roll. We can get a date for as soon as early May.”
This was the reaction from ANC Member of Parliament, Boy Mamabolo this week after the Pretoria High Court this week ruled that his court application lacked urgency and could therefore be heard on a normal basis. He hopes the matter will be heard before the date of the general election at the end of May.
Mamabolo earlier sought an urgent court order for the ANC to release raw nomination data from party branches to prove how he did not qualify to be on the 2024 list of candidates up for legislature and parliament. He argues that the number of branches that nominated him, are sufficient to warrant him featuring on the list.
In court documents that supported his application, Mamabolo said a WhatsApp conversation between himself and a lists committee executive, who advised him to align with a regional leader to be guaranteed a spot on the list, led him to believe he may have been removed from the list unduly as he did not follow this advice.
Other reports are that the ANC’s court documents ascribe the removal of Mamabolo’s name from the list to the fact that he failed to present a secondary school senior certificate upon request, along with a post-matric qualification. He dismissed these as untrue when Polokwane Observer enquired.
“And I am happy that the ANC conceded in its court document that I was number 5 on the list but removed to number 22, without any proper reasons,” he remarked.
A screenshot of a photo of what is seemingly Mamabolo’s matric certificate, is currently circulating on social media, after apparently having been posted by Mamabolo himself. The authenticity hereof could, however, not be verified at the time of going to print. ANC provincial spokesperson Jimmy Machaka said the ANC would from here focus on preparing for the election.