An urgent court application in the Bloemfontein High Court to stop the African National Congress (ANC) provincial conference in the Free State was removed from the roll on Tuesday.
Judge S Ebrahim struck the matter off the roll on the grounds that legal papers had not been properly served on the ANC’s provincial structures. The applicants must pay the cost.
Fourteen members of the Motheo (Bloemfontein) region of the ANC wanted to ask the court to interdict the party from holding a provincial conference from Wednesday until Sunday.
One of the applicants, Lefa Mifi — the ANC chairperson of the Thabo Mkhandwane branch at Dewetsdorp — said they were disappointed by the outcome of the court proceedings. ”We will still challenge the conference if it goes on this week.”
Mifi was adamant that the ANC constitution had been ”violated” and not properly followed with regard to branch general meetings in the run-up to the provincial conference.
Delegates to represent the branch at the provincial conference are elected at these meetings.
Mifi said he and the other applicants had approached the court because they had exhausted all internal party procedures for disputes.
Free State ANC working committee member Thabo Manyoni said the outcome of the court proceedings was an indication that people who wanted to ”derail” the ANC would not succeed.
”I’m happy that the provincial conference will continue,” he said. — Sapa