Overview
- The Eastern Cape High Court issued an interim interdict pausing the ANC’s provincial elective conference after an urgent application by three party members.
- The court found Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula’s final verification report invalid because it was issued only a week before the conference instead of the required two, which denied branches time to challenge it.
- ANC rules require a preliminary audit and at least 70% of branches in good standing before a provincial conference, a safeguard the applicants say was not properly followed.
- The applicants dispute the report’s claim that 535 of 554 branches qualified, alleging some branches were wrongly excluded or approved while disputes were still unresolved.
- Party leaders, including Mbalula and Eastern Cape chair Oscar Mabuyane, say they will defend the process in court, as a separate Limpopo branch seeks a court order to stop that province’s conference over contested delegate mandates.