The opposition MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe has indefinitely postponed the Supreme Court-ordered extraordinary congress (EOC) that was scheduled for July 31 due to lockdown measures that have been in force since March.
Khupe had applied for clearance from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) for direction on how to hold the extraordinary congress set to be attended by over 4 000 delegates.
Responding to Khupe’s request, MoHCC acting permanent secretary Gibson Mhlanga, in a letter dated June 29 and addressed to the former, said it was not possible for the EOC to be held under the ongoing health crisis.
Speaking during a press briefing at Harvest House on Wednesday, Khupe’s spokesperson, Khaliphani Phugeni, said:
We are sad to announce that our July 31 extraordinary congress can no longer go ahead as planned because we tried all that we could humanly to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
However, considering the fears expressed by the executive through the ministry of Health, we have realised that it is not possible so we have instructed our lawyers to approach the courts to seek a waiver.
In March this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Nelson Chamisa’s ascendancy to the leadership of the MDC-T party in 2018 was null and void.
The court instated Khupe as interim party president and ordered her to organise an EOC within 90 days to elect a substantive president.