Seizure of Luthuli House averted as parties reach agreement

A mere hollow building is how the normally bustling Luthuli House on 54 Pixley Seme Street, the headquarters of the ANC, would have turned out to be today, had it not been for an amicable solution reached by the party’s regional representatives and Johannesburg city lawyers.

The seizure of property worth R300 000 from the governing party’s national command centre was an impending prospect, had it failed to pay or come to some agreement with Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s legal team.

Mashaba this week announced that a writ of execution against the ANC had been obtained after it failed to pay the R300 000 in legal fees owed to the city.

The ANC had until today to settle the matter or face the execution of the court order.

The ANC’s legal woes stem from a failed attempt for an urgent application in the High Court in Johannesburg to have a motion of no confidence tabled against Mashaba and speaker Vasco da Gama through a secret ballot.

The matter was struck off the roll for lack of urgency, with costs being awarded to the city.

“They (ANC) had no choice but to comply with the law,” was how Johannesburg city council spokesperson Omogolo Taunyane reacted to the developments.

Exact details of the agreement were not available, but Luthuli House and its furniture is safe for now.