Johannesburg - The South Gauteng High Court will on Friday hear an application by former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo and several African National Congress (ANC) branches to overturn the disbandment of the provincial national executive committee (PEC) three months ago.
ANC top brass fired Mahumapelo in the wake of violent protests that swept across the province over corruption and deteriorated service delivery. A provincial task team (PTT) was formed to run the province and included Mahumapelo.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed 70-year-old Job Mokgoro as the PTT convener and acting premier. However, Mahumapelo later quit the PTT, sinking further into the political wilderness.
One of the four applicants, Aron Motswana told television news channel eNCA that their case will be bolstered by Mahumapelo joining their court bid. The former premier has enlisted the services of legal eagle advocate Dali Mpofu to help with his fight back.
"This actually strengthens our case. It also brings an added advantage of the most brilliant legal mind in our country in Dali Mpofu SC. We hope that he [Mahumapelo] will add more to our case, he has vast experience as a leader in the province," said Motswana.
"Those people who were bestowed into the PTT had long been fighting comrade Supra for almost 18 years now. They have never done any work for the ANC...all they did was come up with frivolous accusations against Supra."
The applicants argue in court papers that the ANC national executive council (NEC) did not have a legitimate reason to disband the provincial structure.