Eastern Cape ANC U-turns on decision to go ahead with conference despite court order

2026-03-27 - 10:40

The ANC’s Eastern Cape leadership have decided to walk back from their declaration that a provincial conference would go ahead. The Eastern Cape High Court on Thursday halted the conference, urging the party to address several issues and complaints. The party’s provincial Executive Committee was bullish in the aftermath, saying the conference was “in motion” and preparations would go ahead, despite the ruling. “We cannot just take it like that, inasmuch as we respect the rule of law. We are continuing within those legal perimeters to make sure we exhaust that particular process,” said current ANC chairperson in the province, Oscar Mabuyane. He said when the ruling was made, “almost more than 60% of delegates for the conference were registered” The ANC said their appeal will be heard on Friday afternoon. A contempt of court matter was filed on Friday morning in response to the ANC’s insistence that the conference go ahead, and is understood to be heard on Saturday. Amid the court drama, Convener of the National Executive Committee deployee to the Eastern Cape, Mmamoloko Kubayi, confirmed that the conference was now on ice again.”You can’t have a conception that the ANC doesn’t listen to the courts,” she told broadcaster eNCA. This is a developing story