A court ruling setting aside the ANC’s Ekurhuleni regional elective congress earlier this year could have “serious implications” for the ruling party as it prepares for the watershed 2024 provincial and national elections amid waning support, according to a political analyst.
The high court in Johannesburg on Monday set aside all decisions and resolutions taken at the congress held at Fourways in May 2022, after a group of disgruntled ANC members successfully argued some ANC branches were disqualified from the conference in a manner that was procedurally unfair and irregular.
Nelson Mandela University political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the court ruling might result in more factionalism in the region. “Obviously, the ANC will be dealt a blow in the coming general elections [next year] in that [Ekurhuleni] area because they won’t have leadership ... and unity,” he said.
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“It means the possibility the ANC might lose power in that region is not far-fetched,” Breakfast added.
The conference saw former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina re-elected ANC Ekurhuleni regional chair. Masina resigned as ANC regional chair in November 2022 after disagreement with the provincial party structure over a coalition pact with the EFF, which resulted in positions in executive mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana’s 10-seat mayoral committee shared equally by politicians from both parties.
The Ekurhuleni metro, together with Tshwane and Johannesburg, fell to DA-led coalitions after the 2021 municipal elections when the governing party’s electoral support fell below 50%. In Ekurhuleni, the ANC received 38.19% of the vote, and 34.63% and 33.6% in Tshwane and Joburg. A coalition of the ANC and EFF subsequently took control of the Ekurhuleni and Joburg metros this year.
ANC Ekurhuleni acting regional secretary Moipone Mhlongo told Business Day on Tuesday: “We have no comment at this moment. We are still having internal discussions on the approach [after the court ruling].”
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri also said the organisation was still considering the judgment. “We are not pronouncing on that issue yet, until we consult with our structures in the [Ekurhuleni] region and in the [Gauteng] province.”
ANC Gauteng provincial secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nciza was co-ordinator of the Ekurhuleni regional task team which organised the regional congress, where he was elected regional secretary. He was subsequently elected provincial secretary at the ANC Gauteng provincial congress in Benoni in June 2022.
In the ruling, judge D Fisher stated: “In the lead-up to the [ANC Ekurhuleni regional] conference and as at the beginning of May, the national organising committee led by [party deputy secretary-general] Nomvula Mokonyane produced a verification of membership report which recorded that there existed 112 branches, with about 20,706 members in Ekurhuleni.”
Following an assessment, 108 branches were verified as in good standing; 99 branches were, in terms of the audit, qualified for participation at the conference. This meant nine branches had been disqualified and four others had not been verified.
With SowetanLIVE
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