Mbalula greenlights Ekurhuleni ANC’s 8th regional conference despite some members’ legal pushback

JOHANNESBURG - As a group of African National Congress (ANC) members approach the courts in a bid to stop its 8th regional conference, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, has given it the green light to go ahead.

Mbalula told journalists during a media briefing that the regional conference would go ahead this weekend or next week.

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He said the party would meet those wanting to halt the event in court.

Six party members are asking for the conference to be interdicted, arguing that the regional task team (RTT) has no constitutional standing, thus it cannot convene a conference.

In an application that spans 166 pages, ANC members argue for the much-anticipated Ekurhuleni conference not to go ahead.

The last time the region elected a chairperson, violence broke out, the matter landed in the courts, and its outcomes were overturned.

In the latest papers, the party members want the decisions taken by the RTT from 10 June to be declared invalid and unconstitutional.

They argue it had no right to convene branch general meetings, audits, and to prepare for the eighth conference.

Mbalula said the ANC was not worried about the pending litigation.

"They are ready for conference; why do you stop it? We've seen letters flying around, questioning the standing of the RTT and all of that. From where we are seated, the RTT is ready to convene a conference."

Forty-eight other regions out of the ANC’s 52 are expected to elect new leaders by December.