Members of the ANC and the legal team that challenged last August’s ANC North West provincial conference and its outcome have expressed their displeasure at the failure of the North West high court to give reasons for rejecting the application so far. ‘Conference must be declared null and void’ Seven aggrieved ANC branch members have taken the newly elected North West ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) to court demanding that the entire conference that elected the PEC be null and void. He said that many irregularities occurred including the duplication of delegates at the conference, which was held at the Rustenburg Civic Center…
Members of the ANC and the legal team that challenged last August’s ANC North West provincial conference and its outcome have expressed their displeasure at the failure of the North West high court to give reasons for rejecting the application so far.
‘The conference must be declared null and void’
Seven aggrieved ANC branch members took the newly elected North West ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) to court demanding that the entire conference that elected the PEC be null and void. He said there were many violations including duplication of delegates at the conference, which was held at the Rustenburg Civic Center from August 12-14, 2022.
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The matter was dismissed
But in December, the high court dismissed the matter without explanation. In his ruling, judge Andre Peterson said the matter was dismissed, but “the reason for the order will stand”.
Counsel for the case Kimberly Chimwala said she wrote to the judge asking for reasons for her decision, but there has been no response from her.
“We have consulted with the judge-president and we will return to JP to update on the matter. We intend to appeal the decision helped by the reason of the judge,” said Chimwala.
Experts weigh in
Legal experts including Chimwala said it may not have happened before, but it is rare for a court to give a decision without explanation especially on a politically sensitive issue for so long.
The applicant spoke
One of the applicants, Pakiso Mqikela from Matlosana, insisted that so far he had not been given a reason to dismiss the matter.
“We have no reason why our case was dismissed, it could be a political agenda because we have never heard a decision without explanation,” said Mqikela.
Another applicant, Gabriel Nkgweng, from Bojanala district said: “The judge rejected our case, we made a follow-up in writing to be given reasons because we want to proceed with the case. We may petition the Constitutional Court because we believe that the judge is wrong and he did not respond to us,” said Nkgweng.
He said what was presented in court in Mmabatho is what he observed at the provincial conference in August. Those who complained and went to court were actually delegates from the ANC branch who brought a mandate from that branch,” said Nkgweng.
At the December court hearing, the applicants were represented by senior lawyer Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, lawyer PJ Ngandwe and lawyer K. Lefaladi appointed by Chimwala Attorneys Incorporated.
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