The African National Congress has temporarily reinstated its Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Committee as the party waits for the next step in its Supreme Court of Appeal challenge over the provincial task team.
The decision was communicated during a meeting convened by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday, according to public reporting by SABC News and the Daily Dispatch.
The move restores an organisational leadership structure in the province after the Makhanda High Court set aside the appointment of the Provincial Task Team in June.
It does not, however, overturn the High Court judgment. The ANC and Mbalula have petitioned the SCA for leave to appeal after the High Court refused their applications for leave earlier this month.
Why the PEC is back
The dispute began after the term of the Eastern Cape PEC expired and the ANC appointed a PTT to manage the province until a new elective conference could be held.
Three ANC members, Lwazi Rotya, Sinethemba Mpande and Nompumelelo Mzothwa, challenged the appointment.
On 18 June, Makhanda High Court Judge Vuyokazi Noncembu ruled that the establishment of the PTT was unlawful and invalid because the process did not comply with the ANC’s own constitutional and procedural requirements.
The court set aside the task team and declared its decisions invalid. It also interdicted its members from representing the Eastern Cape in ANC structures and activities.
The ANC, Mbalula and members of the task team sought leave to appeal. Judge Noncembu dismissed those applications with costs on 6 August.
The ANC and Mbalula then filed a petition at the SCA in Bloemfontein on 17 August, asking for leave to appeal the June judgment.
No SCA judgment on the merits of that challenge has been issued.
A temporary organisational answer
The reinstatement gives the ANC a provincial structure while the legal process continues and while the party prepares for the 4 November local government elections.
SABC News reported that the arrangement was announced during a meeting convened by Mbalula and described the PEC’s return as temporary pending the appeal process.
Daily Dispatch reported that members of the previous PEC were restored with effect from Wednesday, with provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane and provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi again forming part of the leadership collective.
The immediate organisational pressure includes resolving disputes and finalising candidate lists before the Electoral Commission’s nomination deadline.
Mabuyane called on members to focus on the election programme and to accept the intervention as an effort to stabilise the organisation.
“We have got elections coming, let’s focus on elections,” Mabuyane said in remarks reported by SABC News.
A fresh challenge to the reinstatement
The reinstatement has already produced a further internal objection.
SABC News reported on Thursday that ANC member Luntu Sokutu had written to Mbalula demanding that the decision be rescinded. Sokutu argues that a PEC whose term has expired cannot lawfully have its term extended without an amendment to the ANC constitution.
He reportedly gave Mbalula seven days to reverse the decision or face further legal action.
That challenge is separate from the SCA petition over the PTT, but it reinforces the central point: restoring the PEC has filled an organisational gap without settling the wider dispute over the province’s leadership arrangements.
What happens next
The SCA must first decide whether to grant leave to appeal. Until then, the High Court order setting aside the PTT has not been overturned.
If leave is granted, the appeal process will determine whether the High Court’s findings on the task team should stand. If leave is refused, the ANC will have to consider its remaining legal and organisational options.
The reinstated PEC must meanwhile attend to election preparations, candidate-list work and internal disputes under the shadow of continuing legal scrutiny.
For now, the Eastern Cape ANC has an organisational leadership structure again. Whether that arrangement survives the next legal challenge remains unresolved.
Sources and further reading
- SABC News: ANC reinstates Eastern Cape PEC, 19 August 2026
- SABC News: fresh internal challenge to the reinstatement, 20 August 2026
- Daily Dispatch: national leadership reinstates the PEC
- Daily Dispatch: High Court refuses leave to appeal
- Daily Dispatch: ANC and Mbalula petition the SCA
- ANC Today: party account of its appeal strategy after the June judgment