ANC KZN 'rebels' vow to fight on

Another legal showdown is looming between the KwaZulu-Natal ANC provincial executive committee and the so-called rebels who took them to court.

The PEC may have won the support of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) in their bid to appeal last month’s court loss‚ but the applicants - who represent 43 branches - say the fight is not over. On Tuesday‚ they said they will not only challenge the appeal‚ but also want the provincial task team installed and the PEC dissolved.

Spokesman for the applicants Sthembiso Mshengu told TimesLIVE that they made this clear to the NEC in a meeting on Monday. He said the NEC promised to come back to them‚ but provided no time frame. He said the group was wary of being thrown under the bus again by the NEC.

“I was part of [Monday's] meeting with the NEC. It’s true that the NEC has relied on and used the legal opinion‚ which has resulted in them condoning the application by the PEC‚” said Mshengu. “Whether the NEC condones this is a separate issue. We will challenge the appeal using legal terms and channels. We are not yielding on our resolve that the PEC be dissolved and a PTT be installed to over the rerun of the conference."

Mshengu said KZN ANC secretary Super Zuma was misleading the ANC members when the latter said the appeal suspends the court judgment‚ saying it was in fact enforceable.

“For someone who is expected to speak on the members’ behalf‚ Super was telling lies and was misleading the membership‚” said Mshengu.

On Tuesday the PEC relished to the news that they will not be disbanded‚ calling a media briefing to announce this.

Reading from a statement at a press conference in Durban on Tuesday‚ ANC KZN secretary Super Zuma said that the NEC had decided to support their appeal. The decision means that the Top 5 in the province and the other members of the 30-strong Provincial Executive Committee will remain in place until the outcome of the appeal.

“It is our collective considered view that the judgment contains wider implications and has the potential to distort and weaken the authority of the PEC and NEC‚ which are both supreme structures of organisation with the authority to lead and make decisions in between conferences‚” Super Zuma said.

The press conference came three weeks after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled the party’s 2015 provincial elective conference‚ and all the decisions and elections made at the controversial event‚ null and void. This was after a group of so-called rebels from within the party took the mother body to court‚ citing various irregularities.

The ANC KZN leadership lodged their appeal last week. A decision on whether the appeal would be allowed‚ and when the appeal might be heard‚ has not been made.

Zuma said further engagements with the applicants were going ahead even amid the legal challenges. “There will be a three-a-side and on our part that process will be led by the deputy chair‚ comrade Willies Mchunu‚ to engage with these members‚” he said.

ANC spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli also confirmed that provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala met with former treasurer‚ one of the axed MECs‚ Mike Mabuyakhulu over the weekend but would not divulge the nature of their meeting.

Mabuyakhulu on Monday joined the applicants in their meeting with the Top Six accompanied by former chairperson Senzo Mchunu‚ another former treasurer and MEC Peggy Nkonyeni‚ former MECs Cyril Xaba‚ Ntombikayise Sibhidla-Saphetha and MPL Nhlakanipho Ntombela.