/ 12 May 2013

Gigaba reprimands insubordinate Free State ANC members

Free State ANC chairperson Ace Magashule.
Free State ANC chairperson Ace Magashule.

"The tipping point has been reached I think. Now we would look at disciplinary procedures if the ANC's integrity, constitution and the election structures are put into disrepute, " Gigaba said on Sunday.

He was reacting to possible further court challenges to the Free State ANC's re-run elective conference this weekend.

"The conference went very well, " he told media at the venue near Welkom. Controversial provincial chair Ace Magashule was re-elected to the position on Saturday.

The conference ended on Sunday. It followed after the 2012 elective conference was declared illegal in court last year.

A group of six local ANC members successfully challenged the legality of the previous Free State leadership after the last conference.

Gigaba said people could take the ANC to court again if they wanted to.

"The ANC would not tolerate people using the court to try and impose themselves as leaders of the ANC. The branches elect leaders."

Challenge

Gigaba explained the run-up process to the latest elective conference and specifically how disputes were handled, saying national executive council (NEC) deployees and the provincial task team kept close to the party's constitutional guidelines given by the court judgment in the organising of the conference.

He said the most challenging aspect was to unite members and to establish legitimate structures of the party at branch level.

Referring to about 60 branches not attending the re-run conference, Gigaba said full unity in the province had not yet been established.

"The conference was an important step. We must go out to establish branches and unite where we need to," he said. – Sapa