ANC mafiosi won’t learn its lesson

Ironically, Al Capone, the notorious Chicago gangster, was finally sent to prison not because he was convicted of murder, robbery or even theft… he was finally bust by the Feds for tax evasion.

Now it seems that the ANC ruling party (gangsters, anyone?) could be in danger of being hoist by a similar petard that did in Capone all those years ago.

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In this case, the bad debt of the party may turn around and bite it. If it cannot come up with R102 million it owes a Durban promotions company – and an additional R40 million in interest (which keeps accumulating at R900 000 a month) – it could find itself declared insolvent and forced into liquidation.

At first glance, that shouldn’t be a problem for the ANC, given that it has considerable experience in that area, having systematically bankrupted our country from 1994.

However, this time, being a debt shirker could see it barred from taking part in next year’s election, because the Electoral Commission of South Africa will not allow an insolvent organisation to stand.

Greed and dishonesty

So, the prospect is that it won’t be the ANC’s appalling record of inefficiency, nor the opposition’s sparkling, appealing policies which force it from office… it will be its own fundamental greed and dishonesty.

Unsurprisingly, the ANC’s loudmouth secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, claims the party did not contract with the company for voting promotional material.

That being the case, it would have been easy for a series of courts to dismiss the various actions the company has launched to get its money.

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None has been successful, which Mbaks will probably blame on the “untransformed” judiciary. Why can’t these judges just turn a blind eye?

No doubt some sugar daddy, or mommy, will bail out the organisation. Hopefully it will have learned a lesson about keeping its word. Somehow, we doubt it, though.