City wants legal fees from ANC

A desperate attempt by the the ANC to table its motion of no confidence in Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba has backfired, with the ANC now owing R300 000 in legal fees to the city.

“On June 5, the City of Joburg obtained a writ of execution against the ANC for its failure to pay over R300 000 in legal fees owed to the city and its residents,” Mashaba said yesterday in a statement.

“Should the ANC fail to honour this payment by Friday, the city has instructed its lawyers to proceed with the execution of the court order, which will result in R300 000 worth of property being seized from the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, by the sheriff of the high court.”

On September 26, 2017, the ANC brought an urgent application to the High Court in Johannesburg in an effort to table a motion of no confidence against Vasco da Gama and Mashaba by secret ballot at the next Council sitting.

The court found the ANC’s motion lacked the urgency which it claimed.

The court struck the ANC’s application from the roll and awarded costs in favour of the city.

It found the ANC’s application was “devoid of urgency”.

“There were no facts placed before the court as to why the application was urgent.

“Instead, the ANC continued to make baseless allegations of incompetence and a pending financial crisis without placing any supporting evidence of this before the court,” Mashaba said.

“It was unfortunate that the court’s time and taxpayer’s money had to be used to prove this basic point.

“However, more concerning is the ANC’s failure to respect the court order, which instructed the ANC to pay for the city’s legal costs,” Mashaba said.

“The days of the ANC being able to abuse public money in the City of Joburg are over.

“We will not hesitate to execute this court order, should the ANC fail to make payment by Friday,” he said.

The ANC had not responded to a request for a response at the time of going to print.