Court bid to oust ANC's KZN leadership 'not been withdrawn'

7 October 2016

Durban - A group behind the court bid to have the ANC's eighth provincial elective conference, held in 2015 scrapped, have reaffirmed their resolve to nullify the outcomes of the conference.

The shock court bid to nullify the leadership of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal came just a week before the local government elections in May, and exposed the thinly-veiled fault lines in the ruling party.

If successful, the move could see the entire provincial leadership ousted.

The five applicants - Lawrence Dube, Sibahle Zikalala, Martin Mzangwa, Mzweni Ngcobo and Lindiwe Buthelezi - received a boost in support when 11 branches in Umlazi swelled their ranks.

Toing and froing began when the ANC in KZN announced the court case had been withdrawn.

‘Not a faction or a cabal’

This was rubbished by Sifiso Dlamini, an ANC co-ordinator in Umlazi, who briefed the press in Durban on Friday.

"We want to demystify the myth created by the so-called PEC of the ANC that the case was withdrawn. I am here to say the case has not been withdrawn, it has been removed from the roll so that documents can be exchanged," he said.

"We are not a faction or a cabal, but we are members of the ANC in good standing. We are supporting this case because of the irregularities [in the election of the PEC]. We love the ANC and our intention is to protect and defend it," he said.

The 39 respondents include provincial ANC chairperson Sihle Zikalala, his deputy Willies Mchunu, other top party figures, the ANC itself, and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa.

The applicants also asked that the costs of the application be paid by the ANC and gave the respondents until mid-September to oppose the motion.

The elective conference in question saw Zikalala beat former premier Senzo Mchunu to become the provincial chairperson.

Zikalala won the position with 780 votes, while Mchunu received 675 votes in a process where 1 459 delegates voted.

Other leaders elected were deputy chairperson Willies Mchunu, secretary Super Zuma, deputy secretary Mluleki Ndobe and treasurer Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

In the wake of the conference, and Mchunu's ousting, disgruntled members, believed to be his supporters, launched appeals demanding that the conference be nullified, as they believed it had been rigged.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.