DURBAN - KWAZULU-NATAL political heavyweight and property tycoon Philani Mavundla says the ANC must be honest about its finances because was no chance the party could be cash strapped.
The former mayor of Umvoti Local Municipality (Greytown) in KwaZulu-Natal told the Daily News on Thursday that someone in the ruling party was lying about the financial state of the party.
He argued the ANC had a steady income from funds in many of the companies the party invested in.
“At some stage, the ruling party announced it needed one billion rand for the campaign for the local elections, which I found to be sensational because the party has funds.”
“The ANC sold its assets all over the world for around R50 million. It had then opened companies which are making massive profits. The party collects money from parliament, the IEC, and its investment companies, so there is no way someone can claim not to have money to pay staff.”
Asked whether the Political Funding Act had an impact on the party, Mavundla said no businessman would want to engage openly with issues of donations to any party.
“The ANC’s financial crisis has nothing to do with them owing money to creditors. It has everything to do with the Political Funding Act. No business runs a clean business that will associate with political parties and inject funds,” Mavundla.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said there was a serious challenge in terms of raising funds and this was a national crisis and not limited to the province.
“I can not confirm nor deny anything about the so-called companies owned by the ruling party,” said Ntombela.
The ruling party has been at loggerheads with its employees who have been frustrated by the party’s inability to pay salaries.
In March, July, and August, the party faced a similar situation when it failed to pay the salaries. The same transpired in December 2019, and again in June 2020. The ANC constantly alerted staff that it would not be able to fulfil its obligation to pay salaries on the last day of a month.
Daily News