Johannesburg - The newly elected leaders of the ANC in North West are facing a fresh legal challenge to their election by disgruntled party members.
A group of unhappy ANC members are heading back to the North West High Court to challenge the provincial conference that elected former ANC MP and culpable homicide accused Nono Maloyi as chairperson in August.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court denied ANC members Lebogang Medupe, Lesego Serapelwane, Puso Moeng, Sello Molefe and Itumeleng Moswane direct access in their bid to overturn the outcomes of the provincial conference.
However, on the same day, the five ANC members filed their urgent application at the North West High Court.
They now want the court to declare the provincial conference unlawful and be set aside, claiming that it was held in violation of the ANC constitution.
”The ANC (must) be ordered to appoint an interim structure in terms of the ANC constitution in the stead of the North West provincial executive committee (PEC) pending the election of a lawfully constituted PEC of the ANC in the North West province,” the five members demand in their court papers.
The ANC in the province has 361 delegates at the national conference and Maloyi is believed to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s re-election as party leader.
Soon after Monday’s Constitutional Court ruling, the group wrote to North West Judge President Ronald Hendricks to schedule their matter urgently.
“The Constitutional Court has considered the application for direct access brought by way of agency. It has concluded that no case has been made out for direct access. The court has decided not to award costs. Direct access is refused,” the apex court ruled.
In a letter written to Judge Hendricks on Tuesday, the disgruntled members’ lawyers, Zisiwe Attorneys, said the matter was extremely urgent and that major political decisions have been taken by the PEC.
“It is our clients’ instructions that the North West provincial delegates of the ANC heading to the 55th national conference expected to be held from the 16-20 December 2022 can make major binding political decisions, which if nullified by this honourable court, that would mean that the North West provincial delegates would have elected a new leadership in the NEC (national executive committee) of the ANC, whereas the North West provincial leadership was unlawfully appointed,” wrote the lawyers.
Bongani Zisiwe of Zisiwe Attorneys told Judge Hendricks that it would be in the public interest to be granted an expedited date for the hearing as Maloyi’s continued leadership was a cloud hanging over them, creating a lot of uncertainty.
“The North West provincial delegates heading to the 55th national conference will play a major role in the leadership of the ANC nationally and has the propensity of influencing the leadership in government within the Republic of South Africa,” said Zisiwe.
ANC North West provincial secretary Louis Diremelo told the Sunday Independent the party would be defending the latest court challenge.