Millions in travel debt threatens ANCWL assets

FAILURE by the African National
Congress Women’s League to
pay roughly R6,3 million in travel
debt resulted in the league’s assets
being seized for an auction on
Tuesday, January 9.
Unfortunately for the debtor, Atlantis
Corporate Travel, nothing was sold
because of insufficient attendance
– only a couple of people turned up
at Luthuli House for the auction. As
a result, the company will obtain an
order to attach immovable assets,
or property, as well as seize bank
accounts, to furnish the debt.
This comes after a high court
judgement, handed down in mid-2017,
ordered the ANCWL to pay the debt,
with interest and costs to Atlantis
Corporate Travel. This is debt on an
account that dates back to 2013,
while the interest, at a rate of 13%
since 2015, is itself over R1 million,
increasing the debt further.
A spokesperson for Atlantis told
TNW that the account was frozen due
to non-payment around 2015, 2016.
Initially the company tried to obtain
the debt without going to court, but
was compelled to seek legal action
after letters of demand were ignored.
Following the court judgement, the
company again appealed to the ANCWL
to cover the debt before obtaining a
warrant of execution.
At the time of publication, the ANCWL
had not responded to a request for
comment.