THE ANC IS PLEASED WITH COURT RULINGS ON ITS INTERNAL PROCESSES

The African National Congress welcomes and is pleased with two separate Court judgements that dismissed with costs Urgent applications for the Eastern Cape and Limpopo Provincial Structures

The two judgements in favour of the ANC show that the measures put in place at its 54th National Conference to allow clear avenues for ANC members to resolve their disputes are working.  

The National and Provincial Dispute Resolution Committees have been hard at work to listen to members and to find organisational solutions to the issues raised by ANC members and structures where Provincial and Regional Conferences are convening.

Eastern Cape Ndebele Report

On Monday, 25 June 2018 the court dismissed an urgent application instituted by 4 members from Port Elizabeth who sought an order compelling the ANC National Executive Committee to implement the recommendations of the Ndebele Commission regarding the status of the 2017 ANC Eastern Cape Provincial Conference. 

The court found that the application was not urgent and should be struck from the roll with costs. 

In the 16 page judgement the court made reference to the NEC meeting between 23rd and 25th March 2018 and noted the Ndebele Report was discussed and it was resolved that the internal challenges should be resolved Politically by the National Officials working with the PEC.

Limpopo Provincial Conference

On Saturday, 23 June 2018 the Court dismissed with costs an Urgent Application instituted by 3 ANC members from Limpopo Province who sought to interdict the ANC Limpopo Provincial Conference.

In the lead-up to the Limpopo Provincial conference, for example, the Provincial Dispute Resolution Committee, working with NEC Deployees attended to over 200 disputes raised by branches and members in the province.  

The ANC is pleased that the court found no justifiable nor compelling grounds for the conference to be interdicted. These three members didn’t not raise their dispute with the dispute resolution committee and only did so a few days through the conference through an Attorney.

KZN Provincial Conference

In a similar vein, before and after the interdict against the KZN Provincial Conference, the National Dispute Resolution Committee, chaired by Deputy Secretary General Cde Jessie Duarte together with the PTT and NEC deployees spent days in the province, listening and engaging with structures on the issues that they raised.

Over the last two weeks in particular, the team led by the ANC DSG has again been crisscrossing KwaZulu-Natal ANC Regions attending to and working hard to resolve all membership disputes in order allow the ANC in KZN to hold a credible and successful Provincial Conference. 

Gauteng Provincial Conference

The NEC deployees together with the PEC are undertaking similar processes in Gauteng as it prepares to holds Regional and Provincial Conferences. 

BOASTING CONFIDENCE, CONNECTING WITH MEMBERS AND RESOLVING DISPUTES SINCERELY

The processes to resolve disputes must be seen within the overall context of unity and renewal.  As a mass movement, with over 4000 branches and over a million members, the ANC has robust and participatory processes, which guarantees the right of each member to participate and raise their views.  

We remain committed to the democratic and disciplined participation of all members in good standing in all our activities, and in fair processes where there are disputes.  We also believe that our processes must be able to withstand any scrutiny, including by the courts, which are final arbiters in all disputes within the republic. 

We continue to call on all our members to exhaust our internal processes, accept the democratic outcomes and to follow the guidance of the NEC in resolving disputes within the organization. 

The President of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa has on more than one occasion encouraged members of the ANC in good standing to make use of the internal dispute resolution mechanisms as provided for in ANC constitution. These internal dispute resolution processes are designed to boast confidence, connect with the membership and resolve disputes sincerely.

Statement issued by Pule Mabe, ANC National Spokesperson, 26 June 2018