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Luthuli House has been dealt yet another legal blow over the dispute arising from the Eastern Cape provincial conference.The Makhanda high court has set aside the appointment of the ANC Eastern Cape provincial task team (PTT) by the ANC national executive committee (NEC).The high court ruled unconstitutional and unlawful the decision to install the Eastern Cape PTT led by convenor and premier Oscar Mabuyane.This comes after several legal disputes that began when the province was meant to sit for its elective conference where Mabuyane was to seek re-election and go toe-to-toe with the then provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi. That conference was successfully interdicted.Luthuli House then installed a PTT as the term of the previous provincial executive committee (PEC) had lapsed. But that was also challenged.The court on Thursday set aside the decision to put in place a PTT that saw Mabuyane’s nemesis and contender Ngcukayitobi being left out.Any decision that has been taken by the PTT since its appointment are unlawful, invalid and of no force or effect, the court said“It is declared that the announcement of the appointment of the provincial task team to replace the elected provincial executive committee of the ANC in the Eastern Cape is unconstitutional (in breach of section 19 of the constitution),” the court ruled.Additionally, the appointment of the PTT was found to: be “unlawful and in breach of the applicants’ contractual rights as governed by the constitution, rules, policies and directives of the ANC”;” and violate “the ANC’s constitution and the ANC’s guidelines for ANC branch general meetings, branch biennial general meetings, regional, provincial and national conferences as adopted by the national executive committee”.It was subsequently “reviewed and set aside”.Any decision that has been taken by the PTT since its appointment are unlawful, invalid and of no force or effect, the court said.The PTT has been prohibited from carrying out duties that with its position, holding any meetings and “representing the Eastern Cape in any structure, function, meeting, conference or activity of the ANC at any level”.The court said this case was not questioning whether the NEC had the powers to install a PTT or not. All parties agreed that this was in its jurisdiction. Rather it was about whether the ANC Eastern Cape PEC term lapsing automatically triggered the need to install a PTT, even without first dissolving the PEC.“It was the applicants’ submission that the PEC was never dissolved, and therefore the NEC acted unlawfully, contrary to its powers as provided for in terms of rule 12.2.4, when it installed the PTT. They also implored this court to find, only in the event it is found that the PEC was so dissolved, that it was not necessary for such dissolution to take place,” said the court.“They argued further that there was no consultation with the members before the PTT was appointed, and therefore, the ANC members’ rights to procedural fairness were contravened by the NEC.”The PTT argued that the NEC did not have to dissolve the PEC before installing a PTT because the rules were clear that the term of office for the PEC was for four years and that by the time the PTT was appointed its term of office had lapsed therefore automatically triggering the appointment of the PTT.TimesLIVE
