Cape Town - The ink has barely dried since the election of the newly-elected ANC Boland region’s leadership and the structure is already facing a threat.
The losing camp has filed a dispute with the ANC and is believed to have prepared legal papers to have the conference declared null and void.
The dispute and the legal threat prompted a meeting between senior officials, MP Qubudile Dyantyi and ANC Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) chairperson Lerumo Kalako late on Monday, according to sources.
Dyantyi referred questions about the meeting to provincial spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni.
The Cape Argus recently reported that CMB Attorneys on September 29 wrote a letter to delegates on the eve of conference asking them to halt it on October 1.
CMB was acting on behalf of Owenita Simpson, Richard Simpson, Reginald Badela, Boy Boy Ntshingila and Shawn Willemse.
Their main concerns were that branches had (allegedly) not met thresholds ahead of the conference.
Dated October 5, the new dispute raises a drumbeat of accusations about how the conference was conducted, including the “inhumane treatment of some delegates, particularly those who differed with a certain view (and) is believed to have also been done deliberately, maliciously and with an intention of achieving a particular conference outcome”.
Other complaints are:
“Misallocation of delegates, including allowing non-ANC members to vote is also believed to have been done deliberately, maliciously.”
The regional conference proceeding went ahead even though credentials were rejected by the credentials and steering committees.
That the conference replaced legitimate delegates without their knowledge, while they were available to attend and participate at conference.
The conference blocked observers during the voting and counting. The conference had elected Patrice Mangena as chairperson, Sebenzile
Kiva as deputy chairperson, Charl Jacobs as secretary, Clare Davids as deputy secretary and Anele Paliso as treasurer, and gave the nod to President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term as ANC president.
IPC co-ordinator Ronalda Nalumango wrote to four wards’ (29, 6, 13, and 15) branch secretaries instructing them to urgently hold branch general meetings in preparation of the provincial and national conferences.
Nalumango’s letter gives impetus to the disgruntled members’ grievances.
The court application has not been filed yet, sources said.
The latest development comes days after the Dr WB Rubusana region’s conference in the Eastern Cape was declared null and void, threatening to take down Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s second administration.
The complainants in the new dispute are Vuyiwe Hani, Mncedisi Nobala, Bongiwe Duba, Mouti Richards, Dan Malapi, Mimi Williams, Nobantu Bushwana, Clarence Johnson, Carl Baartman, Owenita Simpson, Sindiswa Sambokwe, Nombulelo Ntsunguzi and Yamkela Methuse.