Mbalula and Luthuli House withdraw from ANC conference interdict appeal

The Eastern Cape ANC’s court battle to appeal against the court judgment in March that interdicted the party’s provincial conference from sitting, has been thrown into limbo.

This as the party’s national office and its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, on Wednesday withdrew from any participation in the provincial ANC’s appeal court proceedings.

Together with the provincial ANC and it’s provincial secretary, Lulama Ngcukayitobi, the two parties were among the four applicants in the appeal process lodged by three disgruntled party members.

The initial court case was initiated by members who challenged the validity of the conference amid unresolved branch meeting disputes.

The Dispatch has seen court papers, dated April 29, signed by the lawyers representing Mbalula and the national ANC, containing a notice of withdrawal by these two parties in the court proceedings in the Eastern Cape.

Mbalula, who did not respond to questions on Wednesday, in a statement later confirmed their withdrawal.

He said the decision was reached after advice from their legal team.

“The ANC confirms that the movement, together with [its] secretary-general, in their respective capacities as the second and third respondents, have today formally withdrawn the application for leave to appeal [against] the interim order of the honourable court.

“The notice of withdrawal has been duly served on all relevant parties and filed with the registrar of the East London circuit court of the Eastern Cape division.

“The withdrawal follows the receipt of the learned judge’s formal reasons for the interim order and was taken on the considered advice of our legal team,” Mbalula said.

Two former ANC ward councillors in the Buffalo City Metro, who resigned from their party and council to join the Patriotic Alliance, are hoping to make a return to council by June. Eastern Cape Electoral Commission (IEC) spokesperson Julie Stanworth confirmed that by-elections have been declared in two BCM wards following the resignation of Ward 1 councillor Kuhle Ciliza and Ward 10 councillor Pearl Hansen. The by-elections are scheduled to take place on June 17. Ciliza, Hansen and former ANC PR councillor and mayoral committee member Graham Lottering joined Gayton McKenzie’s party earlier in April. While Ciliza could not be reached for comment on Monday, Hansen refused to confirm whether she would be contesting the by-elections, saying she “cannot say anything as yet in that regard”. We are confident they will retain the wards under the banner of the Patriotic Alliance However, Lottering, who said he was the PA’s campaign manager for the by-elections, confirmed on Monday that both former ward councillors would throw their hats in the ring when the polls took place in June. “We have been on the ground in Ward 1 already and the people there have shown a serious appetite for the [PA] as they are sick and tired of how the ANC is doing things in their area,” Lottering said. “Both [former] ward councillors had been popular in their areas and would definitely contest again when these by-elections are held. “We are confident they will retain the wards under the banner of the Patriotic Alliance. “Come June, we will be more than ready to take over such wards.” Ward 1 encompasses areas such as Braelyn, some parts of Duncan Village and Pefferville, while Ward 10 includes areas such as Vergenoeg, East Bank, Haven Hills, Egoli township and some parts of Buffalo Flats. “People there are hungry for change as they had been short-changed for service delivery, which had been provided on a factional basis in many BCM wards,” Lottering said. “When these two former councillors had raised such complaints with the city administration and political bosses, they were treated with disdain, and they were compromised in the eyes of the people in their respective wards. “With the by-elections coming in both those wards, we are confident that the communities would again place their support behind these two leaders. “And I can tell you now, playtime is over for the ANC in the municipality and a coalition government will be in place in BCM after the local government elections later this year.” At the time of their resignations, the three councillors listed a plethora of challenges within the ANC-run municipality, which prompted them to eventually jump ship. They accused the ruling party’s regional leadership of manipulation and interference and said service delivery in their areas had been compromised. The disgruntled trio alleged: Manipulation and interference by the ANC regional leadership in branch general meetings (BGMs) ahead of the party’s Dr WB Rubusana elective regional conference in December; The employment of people from other wards on municipal projects in one ward without proper consultation; The marginalisation of coloured women in council structures; and Compromised service delivery. The ANC chief whip in BCM, Sangweni Matwele, said the metro’s political leadership would meet on Tuesday, and the upcoming by-elections would form part of their discussions. Matwele, however, said the party was more than confident of reclaiming the two vacant wards. “We always win, all the time, and this time would be no different,” Matwele said. Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone Daily Dispatch

He said the ANC was satisfied that the issues raised in this matter, “are more substantively addressed through the other procedural avenues available to us”, before being taken to court.

Mbalula said such avenues “will enable the ANC to demonstrate, on a full evidentiary footing, that the movement has adhered to the order of the court, and that the membership records and administrative processes of the ANC in the Eastern Cape are sound and consistent with the constitution of the ANC and the governing instruments of the movement”.

Though Mbalula did not respond to questions around the implications of the withdrawal, in the statement, he said the “convening of the [province’s] elective conference will be undertaken in accordance with the ANC constitution and consistent with the directions of our courts of law”.

While Ngcukayitobi could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, a cagey ANC provincial spokesperson Yanga Zicina said the party in the province was still forging ahead with plans to appeal against the court judgment.

“The less said about this process, the better. But I can tell you now that we are still forging ahead with the legal battle, but we are applying a different legal tactic or strategy,” Zicina said.

He said there was no court date yet for their appeal to be heard.

He confirmed the chances of hosting a provincial conference soon were slim.

Social development minister and ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) president Sisisi Tolashe faced tough questioning when she appeared before the ANC’s integrity commission on Wednesday, amid escalating fallout over undeclared vehicles allegedly donated by Chinese officials. Tolashe and minister in the Presidency for planning, monitoring and evaluation Maropene Ramokgopa were called to account over claims they received BAIC SUVs that were neither declared to parliament nor properly accounted for. Ramokgopa, who also serves as the ANC’s second deputy secretary-general, denied receiving any donated vehicles. According to sources, Tolashe struggled to defend her explanation that she registered the cars in her children’s names to prevent their seizure — an argument that drew sharp scrutiny from the party’s ethics body. The appearance comes days before a potentially explosive ANCWL national executive committee (NEC) meeting, where the scandal is expected to dominate proceedings. Insiders describe a deeply divided structure, with some leaders pushing for Tolashe to step aside and face a formal internal investigation. The league’s national working committee (NWC), which meets on Saturday ahead of the NEC, is expected to recommend a probe. One ANCWL insider said the saga exposes a broader pattern of leaders abusing their positions: “They came in saying they would clean up the league, accusing those of us from Bathabile’s time of looting. Now look — they are coming apart. She must step down, and we will hold her accountable.” The source pointed to the precedent set when former ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini was pressured to step down during the Sassa scandal, arguing Tolashe should be treated no differently. She is a lame duck. The president is not compelled to keep her — she doesn’t carry the weight of someone like Angie Motshekga or Dlamini. If league assets were registered in her children’s names and sold, that is theft. But another senior ANC figure suggested the party may seek to contain the fallout to avoid internal fractures ahead of elections. “This is unlikely to end in suspension. There will be pressure on her to explain and possibly return the assets, but ultimately this may be managed politically.” Even so, the optics are damaging — particularly for a cabinet minister tasked with serving vulnerable communities. A third ANC leader said Tolashe’s political backing has weakened significantly: “She is a lame duck. The president is not compelled to keep her — she doesn’t carry the weight of someone like Angie Motshekga or Dlamini. If league assets were registered in her children’s names and sold, that is theft. She will have to account.” Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance, the ANC’s partner in the government of national unity, said it would open a criminal case and push for a full police investigation into the alleged vehicle donations, insisting the “full might of the law” be applied. Ramokgopa, by contrast, is understood to have faced less hostility during her appearance. She told the commission she had not received any vehicles in her official capacity, maintaining that cars owned by her family were privately acquired and not linked to any foreign donation.

The party had initially vowed to reconvene the conference before the end of April, pending a possible completion of the court matter, which now seems to be far from over.

The bone of contention now is the production of “raw membership data” used in the province ahead of the planned March conference, data some within the party say is unreliable.

The disgruntled members who took the party to court, led by Lwazi Rotya, had demanded that the party provide them with their membership records and verification reports which had been used in the build-up to the provincial conference.

While the provincial ANC had provided them with a chance to scrutinise the records, it refused to hand them over, saying that would be tantamount to selling off their organisation and compromising their members’ confidential information such as identity numbers.

However, a number of ANC insiders this week said the ANC’s membership system was so dysfunctional and in a shambles, to the extent that data contained was unreliable and could not be trusted.

They said, as a result, the court challenge could expose some serious shortcomings in the party’s entire membership data.

“This could lead to some regional conferences in the province, and beyond, being declared null and void due to the unreliability of the membership data that was used when they were convened,” one senior party insider said.

Those who spoke to the Dispatch on condition of anonymity, both in the province and nationally, are aligned to both the warring factions of the ANC in the province.

“While the current legal battle in the provincial ANC now centered around the provision of raw membership data, a possibility of a provincial conference sitting anytime soon is very slim as such required data could not be relied upon,” another senior party insider said.

They say if the court battle in the Eastern Cape is not dealt with politically, this could expose flaws in the party’s membership system, which is controlled at Mbalula’s office.

On Wednesday, they claimed that Mbalula and Luthuli House were pulling out of court proceedings, “fearing that such a process will expose challenges in our membership system, which is dysfunctional”.

They claim the data used towards many regional and provincial conferences in recent years, could be exposed to be flawed “as the membership system, and thus branch meeting verification reports used, cannot be trusted and would be exposed if they go through court scrutiny.”

“This is why Fikile Mbalula and Luthuli House are avoiding court scrutiny — it could expose serious flaws in the party’s membership system,” a PEC member said.

He said the party may settle the matter out of court to avoid destabilising its structures.

“A provincial conference is unlikely soon. When our term lapses in May, the PEC may be replaced by a task team, with a conference only possible after the local government elections,” he said.

An NEC member said the ANC was considering abandoning its appeal in favour of seeking a rescission of last month’s judgment.

“The appeal would take too long and risk further exposing the organisation,” he said, adding that talks were under way to retain the current provincial leadership.

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