The Johannesburg High Court has struck off the roll of the application to stop the ANC 8th Ekurhuleni Regional Conference.
The court also ruled that the applicants pay legal costs due to failure to meet the necessary requirements of relief.
This comes after some branches wrote a letter to the party’s Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, requesting that the conference be postponed.
They argued that the term of office of the Regional Task Team (RTT) which organised the conference had expired and that decisions that were made at branch meetings were invalid.
The ANC Ekurhuleni regional coordinator, Jongiziwe Dlabathi, welcomed the court ruling and described it as a deliberate attempt to distract the region’s renewal efforts.
‘’We want to welcome the judgment by the High Court, which has dismissed the urgent application to interdict the 8th Regional Conference of the ANC in Ekurhuleni.
“We strongly believe that the judgment is a correct one for we believe that the conference and the leadership that is presiding over the process has done almost everything to comply with the constitution as well as the guidelines,” said Dlabathi.
He also sought to defend the conference’s legitimacy, which was challenged by the applicants.
“The RTT remains a legitimate structure that must deliver a properly constituted regional conference.
“The leadership of the Regional Task Team has consistently maintained full confidence that the conference is compliant with the ANC Constitution and fully aligned with the adopted conference roadmap,” remarked Dlabathi.
The conference commenced on Friday in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, despite the court challenge.
The party’s leadership has called on members and delegates to unite and remain disciplined to the organisation’s renewal strategy.
