Johannesburg - ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe was emphatic that court rulings that nullify provincial and regional executive conferences would not scupper the party's 54th National Conference starting on Saturday.
Speaking at a briefing at the conference venue on Friday in Nasrec, Joburg, Mantashe said provincial executive committees (PEC) that are ruled by courts to have been irregularly constituted would only affect the 27 PEC delegates that each province has been allocated for the conference.
However, Mantashe asserted that the national conference would not be disturbed by the unfavourable judgments.
"The judges talk about nullifying the (provincial) conference. It doesn't talk about nullifying branches. If a PEC member is also a branch delegate, that PEC member can still come as branch delegate," Mantashe said.
Video: Karen Sandison/ANA
He added that members had the right to go to court should they feel aggrieved about processes, where the ANC would "accept the judgments".
Meanwhile, a North West court in the Bojanala district nullified that region's conference, with Mantashe saying that would not affect the conference as well.
"The branch general meetings (to nominate leadership candidates) were run separately to the regional conference. Therefore, the branch delegates will not be affected," Mantashe said.