JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 24: Fikile Mbalula (ANC Secretary-General) during day 1 of the African National Congress National Executive Committee at Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre on January 24, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. This gathering comes right after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s January 8 Statement, where he laid out the party’s key priorities for the year, focusing on decisive actions to fix local government and transform the economy ahead of the upcoming local elections. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
The Eastern Cape High Court in East London has forced ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and the provincial executive committee (PEC) to pause plans for this weekend’s elective provincial conference.
The ruling followed an urgent application by three members – Lwazi Rotya, Sinethemba Mpande and Nompumelelo Mzothwa – seeking an interdict against the gathering, which they regarded as unlawful and unconstitutional.
High court Eastern Cape ANC provincial conference
They accused Mbalula and the PEC of unlawfully approving the conference, despite unresolved disputes from branches.
Mbalula signed off the final verification report on 18 March. However, the court found the report invalid, noting that it was issued only a week before the conference date, not the required two weeks.
This deprived branches of the opportunity to contest its validity and resolve disputes in advance.
It was already clear the ANC would not address the issues raised by 20 March, meaning the conference would have proceeded unlawfully and excluded qualifying members.
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This amounted to a violation of the party’s constitution and guidelines governing branch, regional, provincial and national conferences.
The applicants further challenged the verification report’s claim that 535 of 554 branches had qualified, surpassing the 70% threshold needed to proceed. They argued no preliminary verification report was issued as required by ANC guidelines.
The figures in Mbalula’s verification report were inconsistent with regional reports. Some branches that should have qualified were excluded, while others that did not qualify were approved.
At the time of the court application, many disputes remained unresolved, with branches still awaiting rulings from the provincial dispute resolution committee.
‘ANC’s actions violated’
The applicants argued that the ANC’s actions violated their constitutional rights as citizens and their contractual rights under the party’s constitution, rules and directives.
The court agreed, declaring the conference unlawful, unconstitutional and in violation of ANC procedures. An interim interdict was granted, barring the convening of the conference. The matter is set down for a hearing today.
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