ANC dragged to court over R40m debt as creditor targets IEC funding

An ANC supplier is heading to the High Court in a bid to recover nearly R40 million from the governing party, asking a judge to direct Electoral Commission (IEC) funding earmarked for the ANC towards settling a debt dating back to the party’s 2019 election campaign.

The petition is contained in a notice of motion and founding affidavit of the urgent application Eltel Pty (Ltd) owner Asif Casoojee filed on Friday and is set to be heard in the South Gauteng High Court on 27 October.

Money owed

Casoojee is seeking relief after years of unsuccessful attempts to recover money he says the ANC owes for election campaigning-related services, such as digital media and technological support, to the party in the build-up to the 2019 national and provincial elections.

“The services were rendered in full and in good faith. The debt has been repeatedly and fully acknowledged by the ANC. To have to resort to court to enforce payment is unfortunate,” said Casoojee in a statement.

The Citizen has reached out to the ANC.

Paul Mashatile

According to court papers, the original debt of R24 million has risen to almost R40 million after the addition of approximately R13 million in interest and R2.9 million in legal costs allegedly agreed to by the ANC.

The ANC is cited as the first respondent in the application, followed by the IEC and Deputy President Paul Mashatile in his capacity as the party’s former treasurer-general.

Casoojee said discussions with Mashatile over the years confirmed the existence of the debt, but payment was repeatedly delayed due to the ANC’s financial constraints and its reliance on public funding allocations.

“These sentiments were expressed repeatedly over many years. Unfortunately, and quite disturbingly, the indications made by such a trusted and senior official proved to be nothing but a fallacy,” he said.

ANC funds

In his application, Casoojee asks the court to order that funds allocated to the ANC be used to settle the outstanding amount.

“The ANC occupies a unique and important position in South Africa’s constitutional democracy,” he said.

“To then have service rendered unpaid for, by a party that seeks to instruct government departments to pay creditors on time is unexemplary and borders on hypocritical.”

Debt

Casoojee said his company could no longer absorb a debt of such magnitude.

“An honest businessman trusted the ruling party, provided an exemplary service, and expected to receive what was due to him. On the other hand, the ANC simply does not care.

“The ANC needs to meet its obligations, and the public expects Mr Mashatile to act in a manner which is honest and transparent. Pay what is due to me, he said.

Casoojee also wants the ANC to be slapped with a punitive costs order.

Legal challenge

In 2025, the ANC faced mounting legal and financial pressure after allegedly failing to settle more than R20 million for election campaign services and ignoring court deadlines, triggering an application for default judgment against the party.

The application, brought by Sisonke Consortium and O’Brian Digital, which was part of the consortium that ran the ANC’s 2024 campaign,