ANC fights to protect IEC funds from R40 million debt claim

ELECTION NEWS - The cash-strapped ANC is expected to be in the High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday in its desperate attempt to protect funding that it is due from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), as a company moves to attach that money to pay a R40 million debt.

According to experts, the ANC – the majority partner in the government of national unity (GNU) – risks damaging its credibility as a party amid allegations that it has failed to pay a service provider R40 million for work carried out during the 2019 general election.

The legal action is being brought by businessman Asif Casoojee, founder of Eltel.

The debt relates to services Eltel provided to the ANC in 2019 for digital marketing, communications and technical support for election campaigning.

Court papers indicate the debt initially stood at R24 million but has since increased to include R13 million in interest and R2.9 million in legal fees.

Eltel seeks to attach ANC’s IEC allocation

Casoojee has cited the IEC as one of the respondents in the action, alongside the ANC and Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who was the ANC’s treasurer-general at the time the debt was incurred.

Casoojee said that, during engagements with Mashatile, the debt was acknowledged.

However, Mashatile cited financial constraints and reportedly said the party was awaiting payments from the IEC to meet its obligations.

Eltel’s action seeks to obtain a court order for an “immediate, source-level attachment of the first respondent’s statutory allocations” – the money the ANC is due from the IEC as a political party under current legislation.

When asked for clarity about the IEC’s involvement, the businessman said the entity has been cited as custodians of party funds through Political Funding Act and because Mashatile kept saying the ANC was awaiting funds from the IEC.

Eltel wants the court to order the IEC to withhold funds for the ANC and, instead, pay the allocation to the company.

IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said the commission does not comment on the internal matters of political parties.

Company warns of collapse without payment

Eltel said the ANC’s “protracted evasion” of its payment obligations has brought the company to the brink of collapse.

The company’s court papers said the ANC is on the verge of receiving an allocation of funds from the IEC and that “in the absence of an immediate interdictory freeze, there is an absolute certainty that these incoming public funds will be completely consumed and depleted within days to service campaign expenses, active advertisements and field operations for the 2026 local government elections”.

“Once these funds enter the first respondent’s operational accounts, they will be entirely dissipated, rendering any subsequent judgment obtained in the ordinary course completely academic.”

Casoojee’s affidavit said his company “will face total operational collapse and formal liquidation long before the next statutory allocation cycle manifests”.

That was the reason for the urgent court application for the attachment of the funds from the IEC to satisfy the debt to Eltel.

“The risk of irreparable harm is immediate and absolute,” said Casoojee.

Analysts question ANC’s financial management

Political analyst Sandile Swana said the ANC’s financial and organisational problems reflected a broader failure to uphold discipline and accountability.

“We have said repeatedly that there is no possibility of running South Africa successfully if you cannot run the ANC according to its constitution and run South Africa according to the constitution and the laws of the Republic of South Africa,” he said.

Swana said the ANC’s alleged failure to follow proper procedures had become evident in other areas, including its late submission of its candidate lists before elections.

Political analyst André Duvenhage said: “It is concerning that the leading party in government is unable, or unwilling, to pay its debts.”

Analyst Theo Neethling said when service providers “are compelled to take legal action for payment, it points to more than just a potential cash-flow issue.

“It may also be a sign of deeper, underlying structural problems concerning the party’s financial sustainability and management.”

ANC’s debts are not government obligations

But Neethling cautioned against conflating the ANC’s financial problems with those of the state. “The ANC operates as a political party independently of the GNU and the party’s debt obligations are not, by default, government obligations.”

Political expert Goodenough Mashego said the ANC had failed to transform from a liberation movement into a modern political organisation, leaving it burdened by an excessive payroll and financial mismanagement.

He warned that delayed payments could threaten businesses, jobs and economic stability.