ANC meets city lawyers over Joburg legal bill

THE ANC in Johannesburg has met with the city’s lawyers to reach an amicable solution after mayor Herman Mashaba announced that property worth R300 000 would be seized from Luthuli House if the governing party did not pay what it owed the city.

Mashaba said on Monday a writ of execution against the ANC had been obtained after it failed to pay R300 000 in legal fees owed to the city.

This was after the ANC‚ in September last year‚ brought an urgent application in the high court in Johannesburg to have a motion of no confidence tabled against Mashaba and Speaker Vasco da Gama conducted through a secret ballot.

The matter was struck off the roll for lack of urgency and costs were awarded to the city.

Mashaba said should the ANC fail to honour the payment by today‚ the city would instruct its lawyers to proceed with the execution of the court order‚ which would result in property being seized from the party’s national headquarters by the sheriff of the high court.

The ANC caucus in Johannesburg said yesterday it had learned for the first time that the city would be attaching assets when Mashaba issued his media statement.

Spokesman Jolidee Matongo said the ANC only recently learned it was required to provide Johannesburg’s lawyers with a settlement proposal on or before June 15.

This was communicated to the ANC by the city on Tuesday‚ which led to a meeting with Johannesburg’s lawyers.

“If it were not for arrangements made by the lawyers, we would have settled the taxed bill of costs as soon as we were advised to do so‚” Matongo said. – BusinessLIVE