By Thapelo Molefe
ActionSA is taking legal action against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for failing to investigate the controversial R150 million Ezulweni debt settlement agreement involving the African National Congress (ANC).
The party’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said they had decided to take the legal route after the IEC “flip-flopped” on its initial commitment to probe the matter, despite concerns that the settlement may be unlawful in terms of the Party Funding Act.
In December last year, the ANC reached an out-of-court settlement with Ezulweni Investments for monies it owed them relating to election posters.
Beaumont said on Tuesday that the ANC had not disclosed where it received the money to settle the debt, as was required under the Act.
ActionSA has also filed complaints with the IEC against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the MK Party, alleging that their disclosures did not substantiate their election campaign spending.
“The decision to take these steps arises out of an increasing concern that the Party Funding Act is being rendered meaningless by non-adherence to the provisions of the Act, legislation that places the onus upon a party to self-declare, and the reality that the IEC is not set up as an investigative body,” Beaumont said.
Highlighting how serious that matter was, he said the IEC recently took political parties to court, including the ANC, for not submitting audited financial statements, which was the only safeguard against a party not disclosing a donation.
The party has been in a long-term battle with the IEC to investigate the Ezulweni settlement.
“The ANC only had R10 million in disclosures in the quarter under question in which the settlement was concluded and had been in financial distress unable to pay salaries for striking workers.
“Any donor paying an account more than R100,000 would have to be declared as donation in kind. No such declaration was forthcoming,” he said.
The party expressed its concern that the real terms of this debt settlement may involve citizens footing the bill. This was after it found that Ezulweni Investments was a registered vendor to at least one municipality in KwaZulu-Natal where it was allegedly awarded tenders.
Beaumont said the party’s efforts to engage the IEC to investigate eventually led to correspondence from the commission in March 2024. The IEC confirmed that it was handling the case in accordance with the Act and no further communication had been forthcoming.
“Yesterday, the IEC’s legal team responded to a letter of demand reversing their earlier position and claiming now that there is no prima facie case to investigate,” he said.
The legal action will seek to obtain the record of IEC’s decision and challenge the rationality to decline the investigation.
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