R Februarie v A Phillips and Others

The applicant, Ronald Februarie, a councillor and member of the Siyathemba Community Movement (SGB), approached the Electoral Court under section 20(2A) of the Electoral Commission Act 51 of 1996. He sought declaratory and interdictory relief against fellow members and leaders of SGB, alleging that the District Management Structure (DMS) had unlawfully extended its term beyond two years, indefinitely postponed ward and district elections, and thereby violated members’ rights under section 19(1)(b) of the Constitution. The dispute arose against the backdrop of prolonged internal factional conflict within SGB, multiple prior court applications involving the same parties and substantially similar issues, and financial and administrative paralysis allegedly caused by disputes over bank accounts and alleged fraudulent conduct. The applicant effectively sought to overturn or circumvent an earlier Electoral Court judgment of 22 February 2024 which had dismissed similar relief and confirmed that the existing DMS could continue until new elections were held.

The application was dismissed in its entirety, with no order as to costs.

The case underscores the Electoral Court’s approach to internal political party disputes under section 20(2A) of the Electoral Commission Act, particularly its unwillingness to entertain repeated applications raising the same cause of action. It affirms judicial deference to prior judgments on party constitutional interpretation and cautions against using constitutional rights claims to mask internal power struggles or to relitigate settled issues. The judgment also reinforces the Court’s general practice of making no costs orders in constitutional and electoral litigation.