The ANC says it will petition the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) after suffering another legal setback in its bid to revive the party’s Eastern Cape Provincial Task Team (PTT).
The announcement comes hours after the High Court in Makhanda dismissed applications for leave to appeal brought by both the ANC and the PTT against a judgment in June that declared the interim provincial leadership structure unlawful.
The court also dismissed a related application brought in terms of section 18(2) of the Superior Courts Act and ordered the applicants to pay costs.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the ANC said it had resolved to pursue further legal recourse.
“The ANC has exercised its constitutional right to pursue further legal recourse and will petition the Supreme Court of Appeal,” the party said.
The governing party said it noted the Eastern Cape High Court’s judgment relating to the applications for leave to appeal and the Section 18(2) application arising from the earlier ruling on the establishment of the Eastern Cape Provincial Task Team.
While indicating it would continue challenging the judgment, the ANC said it respected the role of the judiciary and the country’s constitutional processes.
“The ANC respects the role of the judiciary and the constitutional processes through which disputes are resolved.”
It added that it would communicate its considered position once the legal process had been concluded.
Earlier on Thursday, Judge Vuyokazi Noncembu found that neither the ANC nor the PTT had demonstrated reasonable prospects of success on appeal, leaving intact her June ruling that the party had failed to comply with its own constitution when establishing the interim Provincial Task Team.
The ANC’s petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal marks the latest chapter in the protracted legal battle over the leadership of the party’s Eastern Cape structures.