By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ANC provincial chair and premier Oscar Mabuyane says he is not worried about his prospects in the upcoming national conference after a court order has invalidated the meetings of almost 40 branches in the Dr WB Rubusana region of Buffalo City.
The Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in the Eastern Cape has thrown its weight behind Mabuyane for the hotly contested position of deputy president ahead of the December elective conference.
Mabuyane is a known ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa. By some, he is viewed as a pragmatist and someone who has endorsed Ramaphosa for the sake of political expediency given his big ambitions.
Mabuyane describes himself as an aspirant revolutionary, not somebody who is preoccupied with power positions.
In 2009, he was nominated as the party’s secretary general, a position which he says has never imagined himself in and accepted with reluctance.
Mabuyane was re-elected as a provincial chair this year, with 150 votes between him and his opponent, Babalo Madikizela.
The conference saw a failed court bid and pandemonium about credentials, which determine who can participate and, as a result, vote for the leadership.
Mabuyane believes the matter will be ventilated through courts despite the fact that the ruling could have implications for the outcome of the province’s elective conference.
The court battle stems from the alleged manipulation of branch general meetings earlier in 2022.
The urgent application was launched by the Dr WB Rubusana ANC Youth League (ANCYL) regional chairperson, Ondela Sokomani among others, citing that the participation of the branches was “manipulated”.
The province is the party’s third largest in terms of membership, after Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. It is expected to influence the outcomes of the conference.
Judge Igna Stretch found the region’s branch meetings of February and March this year were run “in an unconstitutional and unlawful” way. She ordered the ANC and 28 other respondents, who made no appearance, to pay costs.
“The decisions, resolutions and outcomes of the above meetings … are null and void and of no effect, and accordingly set aside.”
The court found the ANC failed to ensure compliance with its constitution during the Rubusana branch meetings several months ago.
The high court ruling, which affects the credentials of branch delegates and the outcomes of both regional and provincial conferences, could potentially pave the way for a possible rerun of both conferences.
However, any decision to re-run a conference, which would nullify the elected leadership, lies with the ANC national executive committee (NEC), the highest decision-making body of the party in between conferences.