The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says it is aware of a last-minute court challenge seeking to halt its much-anticipated provincial congress on Friday.

An ANC provincial official told News24 that the party’s leadership in KZN is “attending to the matter”.

The Moses Mabhida, Harry Gwala and Lower South Coast regions are seeking to halt the conference, claiming that their branch general meetings leading up to it were marred by gatekeeping and the sidelining of party members.

READ MORE: ANC KZN members head to court to stop provincial congress

The matter is expected to get underway in the high court in Pietermaritzburg on Friday afternoon.

If the conference goes ahead, party provincial coordinator Sihle Zikalala is expected to be re-elected as chairperson.

The province has been trying to elect new leadership since its provincial executive committee was disbanded by the high court in Pietermaritzburg in 2017 over flawed processes leading up to its 2015 provincial congress.

Super Zuma’s chances weakened

The ANC’s highest decision-making body, the national executive committee (NEC), had previously said the conference could go ahead once all issues had been resolved.
Some argue, however, that this has not happened.

When News24 attempted to speak to Super Zuma, who is vying for the position of provincial secretary general once again, he said only Zikalala could speak on the “Maritzburg challenge”.

Zikalala was not immediately available for comment.

READ MORE: KZN ‘unity’ slate on shaky ground

An NEC insider from the province dismissed those seeking to challenge the conference, insisting that the majority wanted to see it go ahead.

However, if 27 branches from Moses Mabhida were barred from participating in the conference, it would impact on Zuma’s bid the most.

“Those 27 branches translate to something like 60 delegates or votes. Of course, that weakens [Zuma’s]s chances to lead,” said the source. — News24