African National Congress (ANC) MP Boy Mamabolo has threatened to go to the High Court to stop him from being sworn in as a member of Parliament if the party does not include his name on its list of candidates.
Mamabolo has accused the ANC of illegally removing his name from the list of candidates for the Limpopo provincial legislature.
The state is expected to field about 18 candidates on the party's National Council of Provinces (NCOP) list.
Mamabolo's lawyers wrote to the party today demanding a response by the end of business and have threatened to seek an emergency injunction.
He said that after an initial court challenge was dismissed for lack of urgency, the party promised to resolve the issue internally but never did.
“We were told that this would be dealt with and resolved internally but so far no one has approached me to resolve this issue amicably. So I have decided to ask for an answer by 5pm today and if there is no answer I will urgently apply to the High Court to block the swearing-in ceremony of Limpopo MPs next week. We were told that it would be resolved internally but no one is responding to our messages.”
The ANC in Limpopo has said it is prepared to defend its position in court if Mamabolo files a claim.
ANC Limpopo chapter spokesman Jimmy Machaka said: “The ANC would like to confirm that we will not accept any intimidation by Comrade Boy Mamabolo. Our position on the matter has not changed and we continue to maintain that our decision is reasonable and justified. The ANC will staunchly defend itself against any attempts to drag the ANC back to court.”
VIDEO | Removing me from the ANC list is an act of violence and must be stopped – Boy Mamabolo:
