The results of several of today's by-elections in the Western Cape could be declared null and void if the ANC succeeds in its planned bid to the Constitutional Court, to challenge the Electoral Court judgment preventing it from participating in certain wards.

The party confirmed that it would be going to the highest court in the country, after the Electoral Court upheld the decision of the IEC that ANC members who registered late for the by-elections could not stand as candidates today.

Secretary general Gwede Mantashe was dismissive about the fact that the ANC would not be competing in twelve of today's by-elections, saying that "Shikota" (The Congress of the People) should enjoy the Christmas present they received from the Independent Electoral Commission - while it lasted.

"You can have the elections (today), but when we take the case to Constitutional Court (even if it is only heard) in February, the elections (could be) nullified, and we will have to rerun those elections," said Mantashe.

He said there was "something very strange" in the process and the decision which saw the ANC being excluded from today's elections, hinting that the Electoral Court and the IEC were not above board in their actions.

The Electoral Court in Bloemfontein dealt the ANC a blow by dismissing its application to overturn the IEC's disqualification of ANC candidates who were not registered in time.

The court, chaired by Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Kenneth Mthiyane, found that making an allowance for the ANC would not only "lower the standard of excellence the Electoral Commission has set for itself", but would also "open the door to a shambolic free for all".

Mantashe said he was unsure what these "very strange high standards" were.

"There is precedent in the province for a situation much worse than the ANC case. I don't know about these excellent standards For other parties rules are broken left, right and centre, (yet) they are still regarded as excellent".

Therefore yesterday's judgment would have to be tested, "because it reflects a quite dangerous precedent that doesn't reflect consistency".

The Electoral Court is composed of regular judges and not aligned to the Electoral Commission, but the ANC presumably regards the two as too close for comfort.

"That is the same system. It is the IEC that goes to court, and it is the Electoral Court that takes the decision. It is that institutional arrangement that gave that present (to Cope). That is why we must test it in another court," said Mantashe.

Meanwhile, the ANC's support for its provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha was affirmed, after reports that the provincial executive could be disbanded because of the apparent bungling of the registration process.

At a press briefing yesterday attended by the high-level delegation of Skwatsha; Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Garth Strachan; senior NEC member Mathole Motshekga and the South Africa National Civics Organisation's provincial secretary Chris Stali, Mantashe made it clear that Skwatsha was staying put in his position.

Also at the briefing, were about seventy ANC deserters who allegedly returned to the fold after their brief sojourns with the competition.

Skwatsha, speaking on behalf of the alleged returnees who nodded in agreement, said they had left the ANC as ordinary members for promises of jobs and positions with the Congress of the People, but had soon returned after realising their mistake.

There were also six former DA members, led by their branch secretary, and six former UDM members who were welcomed back with open arms, Skwatsha said.

Cope dismissed the ANC's allegations of luring members with promises of jobs as "a political stunt".

"There is absolute no truth in it. We have not lured any members from the ANC. Anyone who joined the organisation joined out of their own free will and of their own volition," said Phillip Dexter of Cope.