The sheriff of the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) was unable to attach ANC property after failing to gain access to Luthuli House, the party’s national headquarters.

This, says TimesLIVE, comes after Ezulweni Investments obtained a High Court order to start attaching assets belonging to the ANC, as part of a settlement for the R102m the ruling party owes it for its 2019 election campaign posters.

The order gives the sheriff powers to attach assets belonging to the governing party, and to auction them off until the total amount owed to Ezulweni is settled.

The sheriff’s office said it was trying to liaise with the ANC office to serve the court order and start attaching some of its assets.

‘I’m waiting for the ANC to tell me when I can go to their offices. They told me that no-one was around as they were working remotely because of Covid-19,’ the sheriff said.

TimesLIVE says it found the door closed at party offices in Sauer Street, Johannesburg, but some staff members were seen entering using the vehicle entrance.

Renash Ramdas, owner of Ezulweni Investments, reportedly told The Star yesterday he hopes his debt battle with the ANC does not culminate in the liquidation of the party.

‘I’m hoping that it doesn’t go that way. It would be rather sad,’ he said. ‘We didn’t want things to happen like this in the first place. If officials say let’s sit around the table, things can work out differently. That’s what we wanted from the word go. I am still prepared to sit around a table with both our legal teams and sort this problem out,’ Ramdas added.

However, the ANC maintained yesterday that it was not obliged to pay Ezulweni and its lawyers were working on appealing the High Court ruling.

Full TimesLIVE report

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