Durban - The R1 000 required to be paid into an IEC bank account to secure the ANC’s participation in the recent Mtubatuba by-elections went into a micro-moneylender account instead.
IOL can now reveal that the money was never paid to the IEC, but was paid instead into a bank account belonging to Bayport Financial Services, one of the country’s leading microlenders.
A bank paper trail shows the money was deposited into the microlender’s account at 3.49pm on December 2 last year, but it is not clear where this occurred.
The microlender’s bank account is with Standard Bank, and the person who deposited the monies used an ATM (identified as E792) to complete the transaction.
In the banking paper trail seen by IOL, the person who deposited the funds used a reference starting with C, implying he or she had an outstanding loan with Bayport.
The slip was obtained after the money was deposited when it was later attached to a by-election participation form sent to the IEC.
NEWS: It has now been established that the ANC in the Nokuhamba Nyawo region was never furnished with wrong IEC banking details. A bank paper trail shows that the money for Mtubatuba by-elections was deposited into a bank account belonging to Bayport Financial Services. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) January 21, 2023
The ANC intended to field Mbhekiseni Vivian Mfeka as a candidate, as it was fighting to retain a ward left vacant when one of its councillors resigned to take up a full-time municipal job.
The issue of the money and how the ANC failed to secure its participation in the by-election has been trending over the last few days.
It was first alleged the ANC did not have the money to pay the participation fee. Later it emerged that the ANC was disqualified after failing to meet the deadline to register.
After being disqualified, it went to the Electoral Court to contest that decision and lost. It therefore failed to take part in the poll on Wednesday, paving the way for the IFP to easily snatch the ward.
It has now given two conflicting statements. It first claimed the IEC had given it the wrong account number, but then later placed the blame on an employee at the bank who allegedly helped its officials do the paperwork.
“Within the processes, the Municipal Electoral Act requires that a certain amount be deposited by a set deadline in the elections timetable.
“As the ANC in the region, we complied accordingly.
“Unfortunately, during the processes undertaken by the bank, it was later discovered that a bank official had made an error when writing an account number.
“The error was picked up and addressed with the bank and IEC officials.
“Eventually, the bank transferred the amount to the correct IEC account after consensus had been reached.
“We were later shocked after being informed about our disqualification, despite having corrected the error as directed by the IEC.
“Armed with all evidence pointing to compliance, including our interaction with the IEC, we decided to take legal action,” the party recently claimed.
The IEC has since dismissed the ANC’s claims, saying: “There was no mistake in the account details given to this (or any other) candidate who intended to contest this (or any other) by-election.
“Invoices are system-generated and candidates make payment directly or through our online candidate nomination system.”
The ANC has yet to respond to the latest revelations. Its response will be added when it is received.
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