Johannesburg -
An application by VWV Group Limited to liquidate the ANC was strange and politically motivated, party treasurer general Matthews Phosa said on Saturday.
“I think it is frivolous and won't succeed.”
VWV's chairman Mark Steinhobel could not be reached for comment.
Phosa said the African National Congress first heard of the application when a journalist asked him about it on Friday.
“We have not even received the application,” he said.
“We find this strange.”
The dispute is related to payment for an ANC Centenary Celebrations event in January 2012 which cost R31 million.
To date the ANC has paid R20 million of this money with an outstanding amount of R11.9 million.
Phosa said the event was cancelled due to rain, but VWV did not have insurance to cover the cancellation.
The application came after the company withdrew from a mediation procedure, it initiated, on Thursday.
Phosa said the application was made with bad intentions as the company waited 24 hours before the ANC's Elective Conference to make it public.
“We think their application is very politically motivated.”
In a statement sent by the ANC on Saturday the party said it has instructed its attorneys Brian Kahn Incorporated to handle the matter.
Kahn said: “There is ample legal authority for the proposition that in circumstances such as this, a liquidation application is regarded by the courts as an abuse of the legal process and 'in terrorem' with the result that the court would be asked to dismiss the application with costs against VWV and its attorneys on a punitive scale.”
In the statement Phosa called on VWV to continue engaging with ANC attorneys.
“Clearly this is a publicity tactic by the VWV Group and its owners in order to compromise the ANC during an important decision-making conference this weekend.” - Sapa