ANC lawyers claim controversial election tweet was fake

Lawyers representing the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal in its court battle against rebel branches have rubbished as fake the Twitter account that allegedly prematurely posted election results from the party's 2015 provincial conference.

The case is being heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court before a full bench of judges Sharmaine Balton‚ Piet Koen and Mahendra Chetty.

According to the rebel branches‚ a tweet from an ANC account - posted while voting was still underway - predicted the outcome of the election that saw Sihle Zikalala replace Senzo Mchunu as provincial chairman.

But ANC lawyer Adv Greg Harpur labelled it a mischievous tweet‚ as was first said by Zikalala.

"The tweet was not from an official ANC account and it was a fake tweet. As Mr Zikalala said‚ it's mischievous to rely on the tweet. Mr Zikalala does not know the source of the tweet‚" Harpur submitted on Thursday‚ the second day of the trial.

However‚ Harpur did acknowledge that the tweet‚ released around 10pm while voting was underway‚ was accurate regarding the final figure received by defeated chairmanship contestant Mchunu.

Harpur submitted that‚ as is the case with national elections‚ "not everyone will be happy with results but must accept them". He said the complaints were taken seriously when they were raised after the conference. He also questioned why the so-called rebels did not follow up with President Jacob Zuma and national executive committee members when five days had passed‚ but instead waited several months.

According to testimony heard on Wednesday‚ the group approached Zuma in December 2015 and the president had undertaken to resolved and respond. However‚ they claim they never received that response.

Harpur said the issue had been "overstated".

However‚ responding to Harpur later before lunchtime‚ lawyer for the rebel members Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said the ANC had an obligation to listen to its members' grievances and to follow up on the complaints as prescribed in its rules.

"My clients had exhausted all avenues but when the NEC decided to endorse and induct the new PEC they had no other recourse‚" said Ngcukaitobi.

The trial continues.