‘Pack your bags,’ but Magashule may not go quietly

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and others facing serious criminal charges have been given 30 days to step aside or be suspended by the party.

However, Magashule could still choose to defy the party and follow in the footsteps of former president Jacob Zuma and make himself a martyr for the RET cause.

Magashule and the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) forces at Luthuli House could use the 30-day cooling off period to either plot a stronger fightback by rebelling against the party’s decision, forcing them to take action and discipline him. This would echo his defiance since the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) asked him to step aside at its meeting on 13 and 14 February.

The resolution that all members facing serious criminal charges in courts must step aside was taken at the party’s election national conference at Nasrec in 2017.

Magashule and 14 others. including former Mangaung mayor Olly Mlamleli, are facing charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and others emanating fropm a failed asbestos roofing project in the Free State, where Magashule was premier for two terms.

As ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa pulled the carpet from under Magashule’s feet on Monday evening, he stressed the 30-day period was meant to implement and “not to review” the step-aside decision.

In his post-NEC closing remarks, Ramaphosa announced that a failure to comply would lead to Magashule and others in similar positions to face suspension in terms of the ANC constitution.

RET faction also gets a push out of Luthuli House

As if to stamp his full authority on the decision, Ramaphosa also struck a blow at the Zuma-supporting RET grouping in Luthuli House. He distanced the party from the RET group, saying no ANC member was allowed to hold meetings at Luthuli House, implying the RET, based at Magashule’s office, was banned.

The grouping was established initially to defend Zuma against “persecution” by the judiciary but later started campaigning for the ousting of Ramaphosa and the Nasrec-elected NEC.

Ramaphosa also condemned the abuse of Umkhonto we Sizwe’s name by the group, which is indirectly led by Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans NEC member and spokesperson Carl Niehaus.

Ramaphosa announced that MKMVA and its MK National Council rival comprising legitimate MK veterans should hold a joint conference to establish a single structure, according to the ANC Nasrec resolution.

Ace won’t go easily

At its extended meeting on Monday, Magashule and his followers in the NEC resisted the push to have him step aside. After a heated discussion between the two party factions, a compromise was reached to extend the initial seven days he had been given to vacate his seat to 30 days.

Magashule and his backers argued he was not the only one facing criminal charges and that other NEC members also had cases to answer.

Other NEC members, however, have not been criminally charged save for being mentioned in evidence presented by various witnesses at the Zondo Commission on alleged state capture by the Guptas, Bosasa management and other corporates.

Only when the NPA or the Hawks have formulated charges against them or the Zondo Commission has concluded its proceedings and made recommendations could they face similar sanction.

However, the fact that the 30-day ultimatum was agreed to shows the Ramaphosa camp might be making gains in the battle.

According to sources, Magashule planned to completely defy the decision, in line with his earlier public statements that he would only resign if ANC branches asked him to do so, which implied another party conferences might have been called in order for this to be put to the vote.

Magashule must seek counsel from elders

The NEC resolved that during the 30-day cooling off period, Magashule must also get counsel from former ANC presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, and former deputy and interim president Kgalema Motlanthe.

It is likely Mbeki and Motlanthe will tell him to comply with the ANC decision and step aside. Zuma, however, is likely to encourage him to take the opposite stance, considering his own defiance campaign against the country’s courts and the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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