The court case pushing for the scrapping of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC’s 8th provincial elective conference in November 2015 is expected to continue in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.
ANC councillor Lawrence Dube and four others brought the court case against the ANC in May 2016. Judgment was reserved at the last sitting.
The high-profiled case has seen thousands turn up to support warring ANC factions in the province.
Respondents in the matter include provincial ANC chairperson Sihle Zikalala, his deputy Willies Mchunu, the ANC itself, the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, and other top ANC figures.
The elective conference in question saw Zikalala beat former premier Senzo Mchunu to become the provincial chairperson.
Zikalala received 780 votes, while Mchunu got 675 votes, in a process where 1 459 delegates voted.
In the wake of the conference, and Mchunu’s ousting, disgruntled members, believed to be his supporters, launched appeals demanding that the conference be nullified, as they believed it had been rigged.
Advocate Greg Harper, for the respondents, previously questioned the timing of the court case.
He explained that it’s not uncommon for a losing faction to be disgruntled.
However, in his closing remarks, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi pleaded with the court not to turn the case away as his clients had exhausted all political avenues.