While the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) is meeting from tomorrow (Friday) to decide the fate of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC), the provincial leadership is remaining defiant.
Its leaders said they had consulted their own lawyers and did not need the NEC’s permission to appeal.
“We cannot have people taking the ANC to court without the permission of the NEC, and when the ANC must defend itself for wrong judgement it must then be told that you must go and seek the permission,” said Mdumiseni Ntuli the spokesperson of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.
The PEC has been accused of openly defying the NEC by filing an application for leave to appeal the Pietermaritzburg High Court judgment which nullified the provincial conference of 2015. The judgment effectively disbanded the PEC which was elected at that conference.
The NEC had indicated that a decision on whether or not the decision should be appealed would be made after the meeting that will be held this weekend.
The applicants who took the PEC to court over the validity of the conference accused the PEC of being a law unto itself and urged the national leadership to dissolve the structure.
The NEC had indicated that it was mulling the idea of disbanding the PEC and installing a provincial task team (PTT) which would run the party’s affairs in the province.
The PEC however says it believes the Pietermaritzburg High Court erred in its judgment, especially on the interpretation of the ANC constitution, and believed that a higher court might find in its favour.
The applicants, however, said this was merely a ploy to ensure that the matter drags out in court. The applicants promised to oppose any appeal.