What happens if the ANC conference collapses, or hits other pitfalls?
With less than two weeks to go before the party’s national elective gathering, the party is mired in legal disputes. Business Day asked two legal experts for their views
The ANC constitution reads that the national executive committee (NEC) shall hold office for five years. What happens if the conference collapses and cannot be held in 2017? Would the current NEC remain in office?
Tefo Raditapole: The constitution makes no provision for an extension of the form of [the] NEC. If the conference cannot be held, the best option would be to get a court-sanctioned solution to avoid a lacuna, with clear timelines on setting up the conference. My sense is that if necessary, the court will force the opposing parties to cobble together an outcome that will prevent a lacuna and lead to an outcome that is in the best interest of the party and the country. This would be made an order of the court. Can the NEC postpone the conference? The NEC has the power to run ANC affairs between conferences and if it still has tenure — that is, its five-year term has not expired — it could perhaps invoke this to postpone the conference. However, as the ANC constitution ...
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