ANC Conference Goes Ahead as Bopha Faction Loses Court Battle

ANC members including residents of Tshwane at Tshwane House photo by Dimakatso Modipa

The long-delayed Greater Tshwane Region ANC elective conference will go ahead after the “Bopha” faction of the party lost a court battle in its attempt to stop it from proceeding.

The Bopha faction is one of the two groups that are at loggerheads in the Greater Tshwane Region ANC and is allegedly led by City of Tshwane Municipality MMC for Utilities Frans Boshielo.

The other group is allegedly led by current City of Tshwane Municipality Deputy Mayor Eugene Bonzo Modise and party Secretary George Matjila.

The Bopha faction had applied for an interdict to the court in an attempt to bring the conference to a halt, but in a ruling delivered by the Pretoria High Court late on Thursday evening, Bopha faction’s interdict application was dismissed as the court refused to intervene in internal political party squabbles without a cause.

The Bopha group had cried foul regarding allegations of blatant rigging of votes pertaining to the delegates that would be attending the said elective conference and had sought remedy in court in this regard by stopping the conference.

Bopha faction opines some of the said delegates have already been influenced to vote in favour of the “Second Term” faction for leadership positions at the elective conference.

An apparently victorious statement released to the media by ANC Greater Tshwane Region Secretary George Matjila after the court’s ruling indicated that conference will forge ahead and be held under the theme “Renew, Rebuild, Unite Towards The Consolidation of People’s Power.”

The controversial conference will run from this morning Friday 12 December until Sunday 14 December.

The extremely urgent court interdict hearing started at around 8 pm on Thursday and dragged on until a verdict against the Bopha group was delivered just before midnight.