African National Congress (ANC) member Votani Majola was denied leave on Friday to appeal against a dismissed application to have the party’s 52nd national conference postponed.
Majola returned to the Johannesburg High Court on Friday in a bid to have Judge Hilton Epstein allow him to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Epstein denied the application, saying: ”There was no reasonable prospect that another court will come to a different conclusion.”
The case was set for 2pm, but due to the court file being locked away and all court staff attending end-of-year festivities, the matter was delayed for two hours.
Majola addressed a virtually empty courtroom, consisting only of the judge, the respondents, attorneys and the clerk of the court.
On Thursday, Epstein dismissed, with costs, Majola’s application to stop the national conference. Majola argued that the conference should be postponed for six months in order to ”level the playing field”.
”There is a climate of intimidation and harassment … If the political climate is not conducive for elections to take place … those elections should be postponed,” he said.
He based his application on alleged violation and infringement of members’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression and political expression.
The fierce contest for the leadership of the ANC has split the ruling party between supporters of President Thabo Mbeki and party deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Allegations of bribery and intimidation of voting delegates have surfaced in various provinces and 29 ANC branches in the Free State have been instructed to elect new delegates to attend the watershed conference.
In handing down judgement, Epstein said Majola had not been able to prove that violations had occurred.
He said the court would only intervene when all remedies to resolve the conflict within the structures of the ANC had been exhausted. — Sapa