“[The] conference will not proceed pending finalisation of the Urgent Application set down for 22 September 2017,” read the judgment issued by Justice Chwaro.

A representative for the applicants in the matter, Gabriel Nkgweng, who is also a former regional treasurer, said that the latest urgent application was launched on Saturday after the PEC chose to go ahead with the conference.

On Sunday, Nkgweng said the 40 applicants were fighting against the conference proceeding due to “irregularities” which they believe had taken place in terms of the establishment of branches and “selective” audit processes.

The ANC respondents – cited as ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, and provincial and regional leaders – have been given until Tuesday to file an answering affidavit and the applicants until Thursday.

The application will then be heard in the High Court on Friday.

Previously News24 reported that the interdict the region obtained last month to stop the regional elective conference and provincial general council from taking place this weekend was rescinded.

At the time, News24 reported that the party’s North West secretary Dakota Legoete said the conference would go ahead on Sunday – and that they hoped to still engage with "members who feel aggrieved", outside court processes.

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg nullified the 2015 provincial conference last Tuesday after some members argued that there was vote rigging and other irregularities ahead of – and at – the conference.

The provincial executive committee has said it will appeal the judgment.

Furthermore, in the Eastern Cape, the party's OR Tambo approached the court to scrap the outcomes of a regional elective conference. This is expected to further delay the provincial elective conference, which has already been postponed three times.

News24