ANC slams R11m 'donation' claim

2005-05-20 23:14

Adriaan Basson

Johannesburg - Claims that the African National Congress received R11m in state money from government enterprise PetroSA for its 2004 election campaign were described on Friday as a "serious undermining of the legal process".

The ANC obtained legal advice on Friday from a senior advocate after the Mail & Guardian reported that the party had gained financially from an oil transaction between PetroSA - the national petroleum, oil and gas corporation - and Imvume Management, PetroSA's black economic empowerment (BEE) partner.

The report relates to a prepayment of R15m, believed to have been requested from PetroSA by Imvume for payment to Swiss company Glencore International, which supplies condensate to Imvume for PetroSA's Mossel Bay plant.

Imvume, under the leadership of Sandi Majali, was granted a R750m contract in 2002 to supply condensate to PetroSA.

According to the Mail & Guardian report, Imvume asked PetroSA in December 2003 to pay $2m (about R15m) of a $10m contract even before the condensate had been delivered to PetroSA.

ANC are 'not happy'

And, R11m of this is believed to have been paid to the ANC in the form of four cheques on December 23 2003.

Imvume then did not have the money with which to pay Glencore, and PetroSA had to cough up another R15m to get the condensate.

According to Siyabonga Mahlangu, the ANC's lawyer, his clients are "not happy", and ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe has been "greatly inconvenienced" by the Mail & Guardian report.

According to the report, Motlanthe acted on behalf of the ANC to facilitate the alleged payment of R11m from Imvume shortly before last year's election.

According to Mahlangu, the ANC received the Mail & Guardian's questions only on Wednesday evening and had been working non-stop on them since then.

The newspaper had been told the ANC had not been given enough time to reply to the questions and that they were working non-stop on their replies.

The paper also had been told that the ANC had not acted unlawfully in any way.

Mahlangu said: "The secretary-general (Motlanthe) had to fly to Johannesburg from the eastern Cape, where he was working. The next morning he had to go to the Western Cape.

Another case almost ready for court

"The man is not even in charge of the ANC's money! He is responsible for administration. Where should he find time for this?" asked Mahlangu.

He said another court case, relating to Mail & Guardian reports last year of a visit to Iraq by Majali, Motlanthe and ANC treasurer Mendi Msimang, was nearly ready to begin.

The case relates to allegations that money from Iraq's deposed dictator Saddam Hussein had helped finance the ANC's election campaign.

Mahlangu said: "It is not fair, surely, to litigate in the media."

- Die Burger