By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld a decision of the Gauteng High Court which ruled against the ANC in a R102m election banner dispute with KwaZulu-Natal-based Ezulweni Investments.
Ezulweni is a small Newcastle-based company which has now secured three attachment orders against the ANC. Its owners incurred debt to quickly produce the party’s banners before the 2019 election.
On 23 May, the ANC was issued a writ by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg which ordered the “execution of movable goods of the debtor, the ANC, at Luthuli House to cause the realisation, by public auction, of R102 465 000, together with the interest of 10.25% per annum from 9 May 2019 to 31 August 2020”.
Before the matter was heard by the SCA, Ezulweni won two cases against the ANC: The first being the main application seeking R102 465 000 in 2020 and the second an appeal in 2022.
The company argued that the ANC owed it money after it supplied the party with campaign materials ahead of the 2019 election. The agreement stemmed from discussions between the company’s owner, Renash Ramdas, and two ANC staffers.
During court proceedings, Ramdas, who called himself a lifelong ANC supporter, produced text messages proving that there was a contractual agreement between Ezulweni and the ANC.
He even cited a meeting held with former ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile and the ANC staffers at a hotel in Ekurhuleni, in February 2019.
In the judgment on Friday, the SCA said the ANC had denied entering into an agreement with Ezulwini Investments for R102m to supply posters and banners.
It said although the appeal by the ANC had lapsed, it agreed to reinstate it. The SCA also refused the ANC to admit further evidence on the matter.
Judge Trevor Gorven said the party’s version that it had no contract with Ezulweni Investments was “utterly untenable”.
“The denials of the ANC fall into the category of bald, uncreditworthy denials designed to create fictitious disputes of fact,” said the judge.
The judgment said that Ramdas had agreed to provide material for the elections in 2019.
After the elections Ramdas sent the ANC an invoice of R102m. But the ANC failed to pay his company, despite promises.
In its judgment, the SCA said the version of the ANC was contradictory.
It said it dismissed the ANC’s application to provide evidence because it was incomplete.
The deal between the ANC and Ezulweni Investment was penned during Fikile Mbalula’s tenure as the ANC’s head of elections ahead of the 2019 polls.