Durban - Another legal brawl is looming between ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal as aggrieved party members are threatening to use the courts to get the nullified provincial leadership out of office.
This followed the party’s provincial executive committee’s insistence last week that it would continue to function despite the Pietermaritzburg High Court having ruled that the 2015 conference that elected it was “unlawful”.
“If the NEC (national executive committee) gives them the right to appeal, and as soon as they file their papers we will go to court and file an application order for them to vacate (the office) because the court ordered that they are invalid,” said the “rebels” spokesperson Sthembiso Mshengu.
Mshengu said he was disturbed that the PEC was very much active.
“They must stop functioning. I saw many cars outside the provincial office, which means it is business as usual for them despite the court ruling,” said Mshengu.
The NEC is expected to announce on Friday whether it will allow the PEC to appeal the court judgment. This was in contrast with the stance of the provincial leadership of leagues and various regions, who last week insisted that the PEC had the right to appeal without NEC authority.
PEC spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli has described the aggrieved faction as desperate in wanting to turn to the courts to remove them from office.
“It is only logical for the PEC to appeal, and if it appeals it should remain in office.”
Ntuli said there were no talks between the two factions aimed at resolving their differences.
Janine Smith of Shepstone & Wylie's litigation department had previously said once the appeal is lodged, the current judgement is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.