ConCourt finds Free State PEC invalid
2012-12-18 17:46
Johannesburg - Irregularities at the ANC's Free State
provincial elective conference earlier this year, have resulted in the
conference and its decisions being declared unlawful by the Constitutional
Court.
The court was giving reasons for its judgment on Friday,
upholding an appeal by ANC member Mpho Ramakatsa and five others.
"Following a careful consideration of the matter, we
are satisfied that the established facts sustain the first two grounds on which
the appellants rely," said Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke and Judge Jafta
in their majority judgment.
"This, in our view, entitles them to some
remedy."
The group contended they had been prevented from
participating in the activities of a political party of their choice, in
violation of their Constitutional rights.
They were appealing an earlier decision by the Free State
High Court in Bloemfontein to dismiss the case.
The majority of judges hearing the case found Ramakatsa
and his fellow appellants proved irregularities in the preparation process
leading up to the provincial conference.
Voting fixed
Delegates participated in the provincial conference but
had not been mandated or elected at a properly constituted branch general
meeting.
Membership numbers were manipulated in specific branches,
enabling them to send more delegates than they would be entitled to.
Bona fide delegates who had been properly elected were
excluded.
Parallel structures had been established, with delegates
from parallel branches participating in the provincial conference.
The party leadership failed to allow branches an
opportunity to query findings of a membership audit, in breach of audit
guidelines.
ANC branches legitimately nominated members for the
provincial leadership, but these nominations were not recognised.
ANC responds
In response, the ANC said the irregularities reported to
the party's secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, were resolved before the
provincial conference.
"In the second instance, the secretary-general
contends that the irregularities that had not been raised with him before are
disputed," Moseneke and Jafta said.
Mantashe and the PEC denied the provincial conference had
been tainted by any illegality or breach of the ANC's constitution.
They denied that any unauthorised delegates attended the
conference and that any legitimate delegates were excluded.
"These particular bare denials of the respondents do
not rise to the level of disputes of fact," the majority of the judges
said.
The denials were generic, directed at disputing the claim
that the provincial conference was tainted.
The irregularities constituted a violation of the ANC's
constitution and membership audit guidelines.
"No explanation or justification was furnished for
these serious breaches which adversely affected members of the party," the
majority of the court said.
"The affected members are therefore entitled to
appropriate relief."
In the Moses Mabhida branch, ten members were prevented
from participating in a branch meeting, while the Joyce Boom branch was
excluded from the conference.
Court ruling
This established conduct that was inconsistent with the
Constitution.
In turn, this obliged the court to declare the ANC's
conduct invalid, as no justification had been given.
The provincial elective conference and the decisions
taken at it were declared unlawful and void.
This order did not affect delegates elected at properly
constituted branch general meetings of the Free State province.
The court declined to award costs.
Judge Johan Froneman, in a dissenting judgment, held that
although the matter raised a constitutional issue, it was not in the interest
of justice to grant leave to appeal.
In his view the appeal could have been directed to the Full
Court of the High Court, or the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Froneman found the appellants failed to prove the ANC had
failed to resolve their grievances.
The ANC's 53rd national conference is currently underway
in Mangaung, with new leaders elected earlier on Tuesday.
At court, Ramakatsa's group wore T-shirts bearing the
names of candidates they wanted nominated at the Mangaung conference.
They were: Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe for
president, Mathews Phosa for deputy, Fikile Mbalula for secretary-general,
Thenjiwe Mtintso for deputy secretary-general, Thandi Modise for chairwoman,
and Tokyo Sexwale for treasurer general.
The PEC declared invalid by the court had selected
President Jacob Zuma for a second term as party president, with no votes for
Motlanthe.
The ANC reran its provincial elective conferences in
Limpopo and the Western Cape after they collapsed.
- SAPA
