Johannesburg -
The IEC has been ordered to allow the PAC under sole member of Parliament Luthando Mbinda to register for the August local government elections.
The high court in Pretoria also barred expelled former PAC president Letlapa Mphahlele from further claiming to be a legitimate PAC president.
On Wednesday, Judge Tati Makgoka ordered the Electoral Commission to communicate any local government elections issues with Mbinda and the party's secretary-general Narius Moloto.
The ruling came after Mbinda and Moloto made an application in the high court for the IEC to withdraw its decision to suspend the participation of the PAC in the local government elections.
The IEC has denied the claim, saying it had only taken a decision to withhold funds to the PAC due to the leadership squabbles.
The PAC wanted the IEC to communicate all elections-related matters with Moloto.
Mphahlele and his friend Apa Pooe and another expelled member, Alton Mphethi, opposed the application.
Mphahlele was expelled from the PAC in May 2013.
But the IEC took a different approach in its court papers. It wanted the court to make a ruling to determine who the real leader of the PAC is.
In resolving the preliminary dispute, Judge Makgoka acknowledged the PAC had a history of factional battles over leadership positions, and most of these cases were heard in the high courts in Pretoria and Joburg.
However, he found that in October 2015, a full bench of the high court upheld Mphahlele’s expulsion and had since done nothing to challenge that ruling.
The judge found that Mphahlele, instead of appealing that ruling, went to the IEC and still claimed to be the PAC president.
“In my view, his expulsion and its consequences (presented) insurmountable obstacles to Mphahlele Mphahlele further seeks to downplay the effect of the judgment of a full court by saying it was decided on a technicality without dealing with the merits of the leadership dispute in the PAC,” Judge Makgoka said.
He also rejected Mphahlele's proposal in court that selection for PAC candidates should be based on 50 percent for those in his favour and 50 percent for the current PAC president.
Judge Makgoka agreed with the IEC that the 50/50 split would give rise to more troubles for the PAC.
The judge ruled that Mphahlele and Mphethi were expelled from the PAC, saying: “I am of the view the Electoral Commission should interact with Mbinda’s faction as the only one on a superior legal standing.
“I consider this for the purposes of the upcoming local government elections.”
He ordered Mphahlele, Pooe and Mphethi to pay for the legal costs of the PAC.
The Star