Gwede Mantashe: Nullified structures will not vote as they will contaminate conference

Mantashe and party spokesperson Zizi Kodwa told the media on Saturday that the party's national executive committee resolved to err on the side of caution over the nullified provinces and region.

"We are not going to try any idea that will actually contaminate [the] conference".

The outgoing secretary-general announced that the conference would start five hours later than scheduled - at 2pm.

He said the 27 members of the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State PECs and the affected delegates from Bojanala would participate as "observers and attendees".

In the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday‚ Judge Rishi Seegobin dissolved the KwaZula-Natal PEC - preventing the 27-member executive from participating in the conference.

At that conference, current provincial chairman Sihle Zikalala ousted incumbent Senzo Mchunu.

The court ruling did not affect the rights of delegates who have been elected at properly constituted branch general meetings to serve as delegates at any conference of the ANC. But the judge said the PEC would remain dissolved‚ as per a previous judgment‚ until the appeal was filed.

"The decisions made there are that the Free State, KZN and Bojanala, all the structures that are nullified will not be voting at the conference".

That conference re-elected provincial chairperson Ace Magashule.

Dukwana was party to a similar court challenge as seen this week, when his supporters dragged the ANC to court prior to the 2012 National Elective conference, ultimately leading to the disbandment of the Free State PEC. "In addition to this, upon realising that there was some dissatisfaction, several meetings were initiated with the applicants and they chose not to cooperate", he said.