ANC Faces R39.9m Debt Claim As Nomvula Mokonyane Calls on Party Ancestors to Help Ahead of Elections

• A telecommunications company has moved to attach funds held in five bank accounts of the African National Congress
• The party's first Deputy Secretary-General, Nomvula Mokonyane, recently called on the ANC's ancestors to help it
• South Africans took to social media to weigh in on Mokonyane's appeal to the ancestors, sharing varied reactions to it

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has spent a decade reporting on South Africa's political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.

GAUTENG — Things are not getting any easier for the African National Congress ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.

A private telecommunications company has moved to seize funds from five of the ANC's Nedbank bank accounts in a bid to recover a debt it claims the party has left unsettled for more than seven years.

Eltel, the company at the centre of the dispute, filed documents in the High Court in Johannesburg seeking to attach money held in accounts used for the ANC's elections, fundraising, levies, salaries, and an account linked to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

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Debt traced back to 2019 work

According to the court documents, the debt stems from telecommunications work Eltel carried out for the ANC between February and May 2019. The company alleges the party never paid for the completed work despite repeated undertakings to do so.

The outstanding balance was formally acknowledged by then ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile in 2022, with a repayment arrangement reportedly put in place requiring the party to clear the amount by October 2022. Eltel alleges the ANC defaulted on that arrangement entirely.

Nomvula Mokonyane appeals to ANC ancestors for assistance

The claim comes ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections, with the party already gearing up to try and bounce back following a poor showing in the 2024 National Elections.

Speaking at the grave of Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme recently, the party's first Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane invoked the memory of ANC founders to rally members ahead of the election.

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She also called on the Gods of the party to be with members in the run-up to 4 November 2026.

“Let the gods of the ANC be with us. Let the gods of the ANC forgive us because we did something and we didn’t stand for it. We ask the gods of the ANC to be with President Cyril Ramaphosa, for people to respect him and for him to have stature," she said.

South Africans react sharply to Mokonyane's remarks

Social media users weighed in on Mokonyane's remarks, sharing mixed reactions to them.

Carol H Sardinha wrote:

"Time to call back on the past and rattle those bones. We're in the 21st century, wakey, wakey."

Jan De Jager commented:

"Eish, leave your ancestors in peace. They lived their lives, had their time, and now deserve to rest. Don't drag the dead into the mess created by the living. If the ANC's fortunes are in trouble, perhaps the answer isn't waking up the ancestors; it's taking responsibility for the choices made by those still alive. The dead can't fix what the living broke."

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Israel Mabona added:

"They should ask the citizens of South Africa for forgiveness. The living, not the dead."

Claire Scott said:

"Surely the Gods of the ANC have given up on them too."

Hlanganani Hector Prince Ndlela said:

"Prayers couldn't help the Minister of Police. It won't help them either."

Other stories about the ANC and divine intervention

• Fikile Mbalula said that the ANC could not die because God and the ancestors protected the party.
• Mbalula addressed members of the St John's Apostolic Church in Katlehong, asking the church to forgive the party.
• ANC members visited an Eastern Cape church for prayers ahead of the upcoming elections.

Source: Briefly News