ANC secretary general Ace Magashule has called for hard questions to be asked about who is funding members who have dragged the party to court.
Magashule told Limpopo elective conference delegates at The Ranch Lounge outside Polokwane on Saturday that taking the party to court on the eve of conferences was becoming fashionable.
This, as the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg some 300km away was hearing an urgent application by a group of party members on Saturday to interdict the conference.
In his keynote address of the elective congress, Magashule described some of these members as penniless.
Spurred on by thunderous applause from more than 1500 delegates, Magashule said some of the branch members who raised grievances have been engaged with and allowed the conference to go ahead.
He thanked those members but had harsh words for the other disgruntled members who carried out their threat of interdicting the conference.
He lambasted them for going the legal route, saying they were serving their own interests.
"Who are these people? Are they still part of us? Whose agenda are they serving? Who is funding them? People who don't have money, people who don't even have R100 in their bank accounts?" asked Magashule.
Magashule wondered whether these members were "spies" operating within the movement.
He urged delegates not to be derailed by such forces and encouraged the plenary session to honour those who laid down their lives.
Magashule's remarks comes amid rumours and speculation that a provincial party official was working with the disgruntled members.
"When you are 1500 delegates and three people take the ANC to court, who are they? Do they want to reverse the gains of the revolution?" asked Magashule.
"I think the ANC is far more important. This province is far more important comrades," he charged.
The conference entered its second day even though the court hearing was underway.
Provincial chairperson Chupu Mathabatha said the leadership would take legal advice if the court ruling was not favourable.
News24 understands that the leadership is preparing to downgrade the province into a consultative forum if the hearing goes against them.
Mathabatha is tipped to retain his position. He had been expected to retain his position unopposed, but entertainer Papa Penny and Falaza Mdaka are expected to be nominated from the floor.
It is not clear if the two contestants will garner enough support to make it onto the ballot box.
They will each need 25% from the floor. The deputy chairperson will be contested between Florence Radzilani and Jerry Ndou.