Johnathan Paoli
The ruling party has responded to recent attempts by ActionSA to investigate the details of the out-of-court settlement reached between itself and Ezulweni Investment saying they were under no legal obligation to share the information concerned.
Defending the ANC’s handling of the matter, ANC spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, said “there is absolutely nothing irregular about that. The details of which no party is entitled to that information”.
However, Bhengu-Motsiri also said that ActionSA was well within its rights to pursue the matter in whichever way it saw fit.
According to ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont, the party approached the Electoral Commission of South Africa to investigate the matter under Section 14 of the Party Funding Act on Tuesday.
Beaumont said it was important to know how the ANC’s debt was settled, arguing that the amount far exceeded the donation limits as per the Party Funding Act and that any payment of the bill by donors constituted donations in kind to the ANC.
According to the chair, any discount agreed to by Ezulweni on the R102 million could not legally exceed the R15 million donation limit, and that any payments made by ANC donors would constitute donation in kind.
Beaumont raised the issue in light of the fact that the party calculated that it would have had to take at least seven donors to lawfully pay off the outstanding amount.
“It is also necessary to understand which donors have settled the debt and whether those donors or Ezulweni Investments will benefit from future business with the state,” Beaumont said.
This follows the end of a bitter four-year legal wrangle between the ANC and Ezulweni over a debt for services rendered during the 2019 election campaign to a value of more than R102 million. The two parties reached an agreement only last month.
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