Livid ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has taken a swipe at judges for what he terms an encroachment on ANC internal affairs after another clobbering by the Eastern Cape High Court, which set aside the appointment of a provincial task team in that province.
‘Judges will answer to JSC’
So frustrated is Mbalula after at least two defeats in the Home of Legends province, where he was a respondent, that he is now taking extraordinary measures, saying he is going to report certain high court judges in the Eastern Cape division to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and will request a full bench in the appeal stage.
This giant and unexpected move will be coupled with an appeal to the latest judgment setting aside the PTT, which Mbalula insists is tantamount to telling the ANC how to run its affairs.
In two key matters in the Eastern Cape, the ANC and Mbalula have seen red on both occasions since March this year and face more pending rulings in other matters still before those courts.
Before the latest ruling on the PTT, ANC had been sent packing when the provincial conference in March was interdicted on the day it was meant to resume, leading to a wasteful expenditure of no less than R15-million.
Judiciary must know its boundaries
Addressing the media at the ANC head office located at Pixley Seme Street in Joburg CBD, Mbalula said the judiciary must know its boundaries.
“The issue we are raising now is that the courts are beginning to tell us how to run the ANC, its a stretch. If a judge prescribes medicine from the bench, it is encroachment; that is the role of the state,” fired Mbalula who is affectionately known as Vutha.
“The ANC constitution prescribes what happens when a structure’s term has collapsed. A judge sits there and decides that there must be a vacuum.
“We are not saying judges are unwise, but can judges apply their minds? That is why we are saying we will take this matter up with the JSC, it is not on. You are being told basically not to do anything,” he continued.
“Our judges cannot be allowed to treat the ANC like this and collapse the organization completely. I submitted an affidavit (in the EC PTT matter), and it is not even recognised, but I am the secretary-general, the boss, and I explain and give minutes on what we did to dissolve the structure, and I am told that my affidavit is an afterthought by a person behind the bench, something that was in public.
‘Judges encroaching on ANC affairs’
“Encroaching on the affairs of the organisation. Judges have never done that. Most of the time judges would refer matters and say ‘go resolve your issues’ and that is it. You are interdicted from holding a conference, your structure collapses, and using your constitution you establish a task team, but a judge says ‘you cannot do that’. That is why we are appealing that decision.”
Mbalula charged that the ANC had observed a worrying “pattern” in sections of the Eastern Cape division of the high court that appear hellbent on joining the anti-ANC wave sweeping through the country.
According to him, the decisions of these judges appear to hamstring the constitutional powers of the ANC and intrude on the rights of ANC members to manage the affairs of their organisation.
The events that have taken place since March were irrefutable evidence, in Mbalula’s view, that something fishy and sinister was unfolding, and if left unchallenged, the ANC might as well just close shop.
“We face an extraordinary situation. This cannot be what our democracy intended, to stop political organisations from existing. This is encroachment on our existence,” said Mbalula, adding that in the appeal, the ANC is going to request a full bench of judges “to correct what we regard as a misguided direction”.
- ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula criticized Eastern Cape High Court judges for interfering in ANC internal affairs by setting aside the appointment of a provincial task team (PTT).
- Mbalula plans to report certain judges to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and request a full bench in the appeal against the court’s rulings.
- The court rulings have led to significant disruptions, including the interdiction of a provincial conference and a financial loss of about R15-million.
- Mbalula accused the judiciary of overstepping its role, violating the ANC constitution, and undermining the party’s ability to manage its internal structures.
- He warned that continued judicial interference threatens the ANC’s existence and democratic political processes, calling for urgent corrective action through the appeal.
Livid ANC secretary-general Fikile
So frustrated is
In two key matters in the Eastern Cape, the ANC and
Before the latest ruling on the PTT, ANC had been sent packing when the provincial conference in March was interdicted on the day it was meant to resume, leading to a wasteful expenditure of no less than R15-million.
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"We are not saying judges are unwise, but can judges apply their minds?
"Our judges cannot be allowed to treat the ANC like this and collapse the organization completely. I submitted an affidavit (in the EC PTT matter), and it is not even recognised, but I am the secretary-general, the boss, and I explain and give minutes on what we did to dissolve the structure, and I am told that my affidavit is an afterthought by a person behind the bench, something that was in public.
'Judges encroaching on ANC affairs'
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"We face an extraordinary situation.
