Three ANC members in the Eastern Cape have questioned the accuracy of party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s verification report ahead of the provincial conference at the weekend.
These members have since rushed to the East London High Court, praying for a court interdict to stop the conference from going ahead.
According to them, Mbalula’s verification report, which stated that 535 branches had qualified for the provincial conference, was bogus.
Verification report questioned
The report in question, which was signed by Mbalula on March 18, claims that the 70% branch threshold needed to convene ANC conferences has been met in the “home of legends” province.
But the trio, whose interdict application papers we have seen, insists that the claim is not true.
“Mr Mbalula, as the secretary-general of the ANC, issued a verification report that makes false conclusions about the qualifications of branches in the Eastern Cape,” wrote one of the members named Lwazi Rotya in the founding affidavit.
“These branches, in fact, do not qualify and should have been excluded. Consequently, the requirement that the provincial conference may be convened only if the 70% threshold for branches in good standing was not met.
“The unlawful conference is vitiated by various material irregularities that occurred during the pre-conference period or at the conference itself relating to the auditing of branch membership, branches being allowed inadequate time for remedying any errors found, insufficient time being allowed for appeals against findings of the auditing committee, discrepancies in the accreditation of delegates, and the manipulation of the voting results at the conference.”
Exacerbating the irregularities
The affidavit reads further: “The secretary-general has played a singular role in exacerbating the irregularities that are dealt with in this application. This role has become the defining element in the unlawful conference.
“For this reason, the court is asked to direct the NEC [national executive committee] to take special steps with regard to resolving the disputes that are mentioned in this affidavit.
“As matters stand, he is required to produce the electronic membership verification. If he does produce it, I submit that it will show large-scale discrepancies between his own manufactured reports and reality.
“The unlawful conference was convened prematurely and in breach of the prescribed period for convening provincial conferences under the ANC constitution.
“It would be a second conference within four years, although it had not been requested by at least one-third of all branches in the Eastern Cape, contrary to the requirements of the ANC constitution.”
The applicants argue that the “irregularities” are in breach of Section 19 of the country’s constitution and in contravention of the ANC’s constitution.
Leadership’s statement ‘incorrect’
They go on to say that on March 4, the provincial secretary, Lulama Ngcukayitobi, issued a notice to branches halting the nomination process for ward councillor candidates.
The notice said that the suspension of the candidates’ selection process was meant to “ensure that the process unfolds in a manner that is orderly, credible, transparent, and consistent with the democratic principles of the organisation”.
The aggrieved members say they believe that Ngcukayitobi’s notice resulted from unresolved reported disputes in the branches.
To their surprise, on March 17, the provincial leadership issued a statement, stating that the conference was going ahead at the end of March.
“The statement incorrectly recorded that the Eastern Cape was ready to host the conference. Furthermore, the statement incorrectly claimed that at least 554 branches had successfully convened by the cut-off date of March 15.
“This [information] is incorrect because several branches convened unlawfully. Only 281 branches were verified to have successfully convened by the office of the secretary-general as of March 6, and the remaining 273 branches are awaiting verification from the head office,” said the aggrieved party members.
Applicants ask for the following:
- An order that its application be enrolled on an urgent basis;
- An order declaring Mr Mbalula’s decision to sign off on the verification report is unconstitutional, invalid, in breach of the ANC constitution and its guidelines, and is set aside;
- An order declaring that the final “ANC Eastern Cape Summary Report”, dated March 18, is invalid and is set aside;
- An order declaring that the conference is unlawful and invalid and is therefore be reviewed and set aside;
- An order interdicting the respondents, or anyone acting under their authority and direction, from taking any steps intended or designed to hold the unlawful conference, with effect from March 26.
- An order directing the NEC to resolve all pending branch disputes, including those outlined in the letter from the provincial secretary dated March 20, within 60 days of this order.”
