Magashule expels 11 ACT members for meeting with Zuma

Leader of the African Congress for Transformation (ACT) party Ace Magashule has expelled 11 party members in the Free State after they were spotted hobnobbing with uMkhonto weSizwe leader Jacob Zuma at his palatial homestead in Nkandla.

Those expelled included the former ANC secretary-general’s right-hand man and founding member Rankele Msinto, but the members claimed Magashule expelled them after they had already resigned from the party.

Magashule accused of being a dictator

They accused Magashule of being a dictator.

The members are Msinto, Tshidi Senoge, Maureen Moopoloa, Mapaseka Nkoane, Mokone Ratshalla, Rosa Gcantsane, Motlalepule Makoloane, Tatum de Pearce, Iris Mogamise, Tsietsi Sethabela and Tiisetso Khaalo.

They were expelled with immediate effect after they acted in direct opposition to the party’s principles and goals, Free State party provincial secretary Kgaketla Mokoena said.

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ACT allege the group violated the party code of conduct and ethical standards and displayed disloyalty as their actions were detrimental to the collective goals and aspirations of ACT.

But Mokoena did not give details about what exactly they did.

Removal after picture with Zuma at Nkandla

It is understood their removal followed after a picture of the group with MK’s Zuma at Nkandla appeared on social media.

This apparently annoyed Magashule who allegedly ordered them to be expelled.

“These violations are intolerable and contradict the very foundation of our party principles,” Mokoena said. “We are committed to maintaining the integrity, values and unity of our organisation.”

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He said the expelled members had a history of creating divisions and disruptions and their tendency to exhibit disloyalty to any organisation they joined “undermined the liberation of the African child”.

However, he did not elaborate or give the exact details of what wrong they committed.

The members denied that they were expelled but said they resigned from ACT in different times since 1 July.

‘He presented himself as a dictator’

Among the reasons for deserting the party was Magashule’s failure to convene an elective congress to elect new leadership to ensure proper constitutional structures of the organisation were in place.

“He presented himself as a dictator in the organisation and whoever disagrees with him gets purged – the same character he was accused of in the former glorious movement ANC and we held a different view by then,” the members said in joint statement.

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“He blatantly refused to disclose the financial standing of the organisation, including sponsors during the elections.”

Magashule was accused of sidelining districts that opposed him and allegedly adopted an election manifesto without consulting the organisation’s structures.

He also prevented the party from embarking on a national election campaign during the recent elections, a move that cost the party as it lost in the election.

In the Free State, Magashule allegedly personally appointed the party’s only representative, Search Mkhabela, in the Free State Provincial Legislature to occupy ACT’s only seat in the house.

Mkhabela’s appointment caused a stir as he came from Pretoria, not Free State.

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