Ex-Agang spin doctor faces ruin

FORMER AgangSA spin doctor Thabo Leshilo is facing financial ruin after the party failed to honour its promise to pay his December salary.

Leshilo, who was fired by Dr Mamphela Ramphele’s party earlier this year, is the latest victim of fledgling political party’s funds drying up.

The party performed dismally in this year’s elections, securing only two seats in Parliament.

Leshilo said this week that his financial situation was “very bad” after he defaulted on payments for his house, his children’s school fees and had his cellphone of 16 years suspended by the service provider.

“People cannot reach me because that was my personal cellphone and we never got a cellphone allowance,” he said. “I am struggling to pay my bond and I have not paid for my electricity, which could be cut off soon.”

He has approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Leshilo said all he wanted was for the party to pay him his December salary and unpaid expenses he incurred while working for the party. He said AgangSA was pleading poverty but the party managed to raise money to pay the IEC to register as a political party to contest the elections.

This is not the first time the party has been claimed to be broke and unable to meet its financial obligations.

In January, Weekend Argus sister paper The Sunday Independent reported that the party could not pay its senior managers their December salaries because it had to make once-off payments to service providers for its election campaign.

Ironically, at the time, Leshilo defended the party, stating that “the party is financially secure and has not run out of money”, and that “we are expecting additional funding soon, and management will be paid once the funds are cleared”.

However, this week he blamed the party for the financial “mess” he was in.

“I am not asking for donations or charity. I just want to be paid my salary,” he said.

“I wrote them a letter demanding my money, pleading poverty, but they ignored me. My debit orders have been bouncing and people are trying to reach me in vain.”

Ramphele raised eyebrows last year when she publicly released details about her financial assets as part of her election campaign, claiming she was worth about R55 million, and urging President Jacob Zuma to also declare his financial assets.

AgangSA chairman Mike Tshishonga said the party’s chief operations officer Andrew Gasnolar had been asked to deal with the matter. Several attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

CRISIS: Thabo Leshilo can‘t make payments on his house.