ANC leadership dispute in KZN delayed
ATTEMPTS to resolve the disputed ANC KwaZulu-Natal conference hit another snag after the ANC provincial leadership opposed the matter being heard early next week at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The court was supposed to hear why the leadership had not filed papers in response to an application to have them removed from office and another conference was held.
Aggrieved party lawyer Alpha Zwane said both parties agreed the leadership, which is the respondent in the nullification matter, had agreed late last year to go to court next week, but the leadership had since somersaulted.
“They (ANC leadership) felt that between December 15 and January 16 there are no court dates for filing of documents, so you cannot file the court documents during that period.”
The ANC could not file the responding papers to nullification application, which was filed in June, because it was demanding the application should provide it with all documents the applicants would use as evidence during the actual proceedings.
“The applicants are saying ‘we have given you all the documents that you want’.
“The respondents are saying ‘we are not happy with the documents that you have given us we are now going to ask the court compel applicants to deliver those papers’.”
The applicants, who are members of the ANC that lost the conference, want the court to nullify the conference, which was held in Pietermaritzburg in 2015 and elected Sihle Zikalala as the provincial chairperson against his predecessor Senzo Mchunu.
Zwane said that after the ANC leadership repeatedly failed to file the responding papers the court postponed the case “indefinitely” and it was agreed that the ANC leaders should tell the court on January 17 why it could not respond.
He said both parties would now secure a meeting with KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Achmat Jappie or any available senior judge to decide on a new date for the ANC to provide its explanation.
“We need to deal with the interlocutory before we deal with the main application because so far the respondents have not responded to the main application.”
Zwane said he was confident the applicants had a chance of winning the case.
“We have foundation for the case because if you look at the court documents you will see (ANC leadership) have a case to answer.”
An aggrieved ANC member, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was possible for them to win the case since it happened in Free State in 2014 that the Constitutional Court nullified the provincial conference.
Another member of the group said if the application failed or the case dragged beyond the ANC national conference they would rely on the new leadership under Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, if he becomes president, to nullify the KwaZulu-Natal conference. Attempts to get hold of the ANC in KZN or its lawyers were unsuccessful.