An ex-ANC Free State ward councillor failed in his bid to prevent his former party from filling a vacant seat at the Nala Local Municipality.
The Electoral Court struck the case brought by Elias Ntlebi off the roll.
The municipality’s ward 7 seat became vacant after Ntlebi failed to renew his ANC membership, resulting in the loss of his councillor position and triggering by-elections.
Ex-ANC Free State councillor’s disciplinary hearing
Ntlebi had been charged with various counts of contravening the ANC’s constitution and was subjected to a hearing by the party’s Free State provincial disciplinary committee (PDC).
At the 9 June hearing, it emerged that his membership had expired in February.
Although Ntlebi belatedly renewed and paid his membership fees before the inquiry, the PDC concluded it lacked jurisdiction to hear the disciplinary matter because he was no longer an ANC member.
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The ANC Free State informed Ntlebi of the outcome on 17 June and notified the Nala Local Municipality, which was under administration at the time, that he could no longer represent the party in council.
The provincial party asked the municipal manager to request the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in Free State to declare a vacancy and prepare for the by-elections in ward 7.
Urgent court Challenge
While the IEC arranged the by-elections following a request by the Free State Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Ntlebi filed an urgent application with the Electoral Court on 7 July.
He sought an interdict against the by-elections, scheduled for 10 September, pending finalisation of part B of his review application.
In that review, Ntlebi asked the Electoral Court to overturn the vacancy declaration and the decision to hold by-elections.
Electoral Court judgment
On 5 September, the Electoral Court dismissed Ntlebi’s application and struck it from the roll, later providing reasons on 19 September.
In the judgment, Acting Judge Esther Steyn, with three colleagues concurring, found that Ntlebi had failed to bring his application within the prescribed time limit.
“Whether he received a reminder or not is an issue involving the internal practices of his own political party.
“Any challenge to his membership or not should have involved the party that made that decision,” she said.
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The judge also questioned why Ntlebi had not challenged the PDC’s finding with the ANC Free State first.
“His complaint is against the treatment he received from the ANC and not so much the conduct of the IEC Free State which followed upon the request of the party that had initially deployed him.
“In my view not only should Mr Ntlebi have challenged his eligibility as a member of good standing with his own political party, he should also have done so expeditiously,” the judgment further reads.
Steyn also pointed out that Ntlebi had failed to explain the delay in bringing his application, so the order to strike off his case was justified.
“On the day that he was informed of the fact that his membership had ceased, that is the moment that the clock started running for him,” she said.
The judge added that since Ntlebi was no longer a member of the ANC, he did not have the right to seek the relief in his application.
Nala Local Municipality by-election results
After the legal battle, the ANC retained the ward 7 seat, with Anna Mathabo Mohapi replacing Ntlebi following the by-elections.
The party had originally won the ward during the 2021 local government elections with 54.32% voter support.
The recent by-elections showed continued support for the party, which secured 50.17% of the vote.
Voter turnout at the by-elections was 63.14%.
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