The day the sheriff rode in to Luthuli House

By any rational calculation, the ANC must be on its last legs. It is not only morally bankrupt but financially, too.

So it was a rare delight when during the past week the gods rained on the ruling party’s parade.

Just a day before the 10th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela – a never-missed opportunity for the party to lavish praise on itself – the Gauteng sheriff rode down the filthy streets of Johannesburg to the ANC’s national headquarters, to collect on an unpaid 2019 bill.

Leaving his pantechnicon-sized mechanical steed occupying a generous strip of loading space, the sheriff and his posse moseyed up to the heavily guarded front doors of Luthuli House. It must have been a tense moment.

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Named after Chief Albert Luthuli, a revered former ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, it is now more commonly known as Loot-freely House. But in the eyes of the ANC, it’s something sacrosanct.

When Shell House, the ANC’s previous headquarters, was the destination of an IFP supporters’ march in 1994, the ANC guards opened fire with automatic weapons and 19 people died.

Ever since the ANC took occupation of Luthuli House in 1997, not even the meekest of demonstrations have been welcomed near it.

Earlier this year, the police had their hands full restraining ANC Youth League “defenders” from attacking with sjamboks a peaceful Democratic Alliance march to protest load shedding.

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So, when the sheriff and deputies swung through the Luthuli front door, who would blame them if they had their hearts in their mouths? They were there to confiscate R104.5 million of assets.

The way it played out proved to be all rather anti-climactic. The ANC conceded they could enter to inventory the assets but they were dissuaded from, at this stage, removing anything.

“The sheriff could not attach ANC assets as the party has sought recourse with the Constitutional Court,” ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said.

In any case, it would have been a paltry haul. It seems to be all shabby, bargain-basement stuff.

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On the third floor, a coffee table, 12 chairs and a water cooler were collectively estimated as likely to fetch R500 on auction. On the fourth floor, there was an array of “broken furniture” worth R500.

The fifth floor delivered assorted shelving and a lounge suite, together worth R100. On the ninth floor, the boardroom table and 20 chairs were valued at R5 000.

Throw in a tired Ford bakkie at R100 000, lots of aged computers, and some basic office furniture of kindling quality. Top that off with “wall decorations”, and the grand total of the ANC’s Luthuli House assets reached barely R200 000.

Given the mounting scale of the debt – it started at R87 million five years ago – we may soon be entertained by further attempts to sniff out other, probably more carefully concealed, assets.

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But if the ANC genuinely doesn’t have the money, it’s in a serious dilemma. It’s going into a general election with its bank accounts frozen and the stigma of not having paid for its posters from the previous general election. It, like the ANCYL a few years back, faces liquidation.

A solution might be to try to make the matter disappear – if it can prevail upon Ezulwini to retract its claim. With the ANC, should the carrot fail, the stick is never far behind. For the time being, I suggest that Ezulwini and its directors should lock up carefully at night.

• At the time of going to press, Ezulwini announced Ramaphosa and a “group of ANC veterans” had “beseeched” the company to pause liquidation proceedings until next Tuesday, citing the “reputational damage” and “dire implications” that the matter had for the ANC.