By Thapelo Molefe
The ANC in the Eastern Cape was left trying to contain a mounting credibility crisis this weekend after legal disputes and internal divisions forced the indefinite postponement of its 10th provincial elective conference, derailing a leadership contest in one of the party’s most important strongholds.
The conference, which was meant to elect a new provincial leadership, had already been placed in abeyance by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula after an interim court interdict blocked proceedings.
By Saturday, delegates were formally told to go home, leaving party leaders to focus on the legal fallout and on how to reconvene a conference that can survive court scrutiny and internal contestation.
Provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane told delegates the ANC would not act in defiance of the courts, even if it believed it had grounds to proceed.
“We are a law-abiding organisation, we are not rogue and we will never act in contempt,” Mabuyane said.
He added that acting hastily could “deepen divisions and potentially delegitimise the very outcomes we seek to defend”.
The conference’s collapse followed a court challenge by party members over branch processes, unresolved disputes and the credibility of the verification process used to accredit delegates.
The dispute centres on questions about whether some branch general meetings were properly constituted, whether internal appeals were handled fairly, and whether the verification report accurately reflected who was entitled to participate.
One of the applicants, Lwazi Rotya, said the court action was not aimed at stopping the conference permanently, but at ensuring that it was lawful and credible.
“What we’re raising is that things must be done properly in the organisation,” Rotya said.
He said complainants wanted improperly convened meetings to be reconvened, disputes to be handled fairly rather than “weaponised” against dissenting members, and the verification process to be properly interrogated.
“For example, there is one branch which has a quorum of about 190… but people who attended were about 150 and were told that it qualified,” he said.
He added that the ultimate goal was a short, credible conference that reflected the will of legitimate branches.
“Our wish is that the NEC… assist the PEC in convening a credible conference… a one-day credible conference led by credible leadership,” Rotya said.
ANC NEC deployee to the Eastern Cape Mmamoloko Kubayi said the party had been locked in legal consultations since losing its initial bid in court.
“Since Wednesday, we appeared in court as ANC. We lost a case and the conference had been interdicted,” Kubayi said.
She said the ANC still faced active legal processes and had been cautioned against conduct that could expose leaders to contempt proceedings.
“We were informed that if we address you, you will be arrested… those are the conditions we find ourselves [in],” she said.
Kubayi said the immediate task was to stabilise the province, comply fully with the interdict and prepare a report for national leaders on how to move forward.
“The conference will have to be convened because that’s what the constitution says,” she said.
“But we must protect this organisation in everything we do.”
Mabuyane cast the impasse as bigger than a provincial leadership fight, warning that instability in the ANC’s Eastern Cape structures could weaken the party on a grander scale.
“If the Eastern Cape is fragmented, the overall organisational coherence of the ANC evaporates,” he said.
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