High court challenge to Free State ANC conference on hold

A court challenge to have the Free State ANC provincial conference declared unlawful and the executive council (PEC) dismissed is going ahead as disgruntled party members are determined to see justice done.

The four – Matshepo Ramakatsa, Lebeko Maile, Themba Mvandaba and Shashapa Motaung – last month approached the High Court in Bloemfontein asking it to rule on the legality of the provincial conference on May 18 and 19.

The case was set down to be heard on July 9 but the respondents asked for an extension to file answering papers.

The disgruntled four, who were excluded from the conference, applied for a court order declaring the conference, the election of the PEC and the outcomes including decisions or resolutions reached as null and void.

They claim the conference was held in contravention of the high court rulings late last year that asked for the rerun of general meetings in 28 branches of the ANC in the Free State and another that the decisions reached at Free State ANC conference held from December 10 to 11, 2017, were unlawful and void.

In their latest statement, the four applicants described the May conference as a “shameless charade”.

They claimed the gathering violated due ANC internal organisational processes with “wanton impunity”.

“No amount of vilification, misinformation and fake news, will deter us,” a statement issued by the four said.

They said they appointed Dexter Selepe of Selepe Attorneys as their representative.

“We dismiss with the contempt it deserves, a patently false averment by the organisation’s SG (secretary-general), Mr Ace Magashule, that we plan to approach his office to apologise for going to court. These claims must be seen for what they are: gratuitousness and a penchant on the part of the secretary-general to play acrobatics with the truth,” the statement said.

“Our court action is neither frivolous nor vexatious. Neither is it intended to ask the court to tell the ANC how to run its internal affairs.”

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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