Ace unleashes scathing attack against Thabo Mbeki

Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has taken his revenge on former president Thabo Mbeki, telling the party veteran to back off as he is cause of all factionalism in the ANC.

Magashule accused Mbeki of red-carding while he kept a blind eye to the corruption allegations faced by rest of the current ANC top brass.

He said the party’s step-aside policy was manipulated. He questioned why Mbeki was silent on transactions sealed by court pertaining to the CR17 campaign alleged as part of buying of votes by President Cyril Ramaphosa at Nasrec elective conference in 2017.

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“Your apparent sane wisdom does not ask for justice in the manipulated step-aside of a faction. You, my dear comrade, are absent in logic and morality to red-card that some are treated differently,” Magashule said.

In an almost 3 000-word open letter to Mbeki published on an unfamiliar online publication, Africannews 24/7, Magashule accused Mbeki of being a factionalist and implied he belonged to the Ramaphosa faction.

The publication is aligned to radical economic transformation within the ANC.

“You lost consciousness as a veteran to ask why many in the NEC are afforded to adjudicate when they are no less implicated. Sir, your prism of morality in this regard is highly suspect because it is laced with self-interest in the hope of dealing with old enemies.”

He claimed Mbeki was behind the formation of the Congress of the People (Cope) and a seat was reserved for him during the formation of Cope, which Mbeki never joined.

Magashule revived the old debates of Mbeki’s HIV-Aids denialism and how Mbeki brushed off the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela during a 16 June rally at Orlando Stadium in 2001, which Magashule described as an assault and gender-based violence against the late stalwart.

Madikizela-Mandela, who arrived late at the gathering, was hugging Mbeki when he pushed her off in anger at her late arrival.

“Imagine if we had asked you to step aside on all the above counts? I regret that we allowed you to escape those,” Magashule said.

He claimed Mbeki did that because he hated being upstaged by Madikizela-Mandela. He also implied Mbeki was implicated in the multibillion-rand arms deal, but did not explain how.

Magashule was reacting for the first time to Mbeki’s criticism against him at the recent ANC Eastern Cape extended provincial executive committee meeting.

At the gathering, where he was a guest speaker, Mbeki lambasted Magashule, saying he did not appoint him a premier of Free State during his term because he was not suitable.