The ANC leadership has seemingly had enough of Ace Magashule’s defiance.
A high-level meeting on Monday will decide whether to take formal disciplinary action that could result in the secretary-general’s suspension turning into an expulsion from the party.
The rest of the ANC leadership is said to be exasperated not just with Magashule’s refusal to apologise for his attempt to summarily suspend President Cyril Ramaphosa but also because he was holding events at the weekend, which he is not entitled to do in terms of the party’s ruling that he step aside while facing criminal charges.
The rest of the ANC’s top six are scheduled to meet on Monday ahead of a gathering of the national working committee, a body that is responsible for carrying out decisions of the national executive committee (NEC). The agenda will include activities in which Magashule took part in Welkom in the Free State and eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal.
The NEC, the party’s highest decision-making body between national conferences, has issued standing orders against mobilising in defiance of the party in support of the so-called radical economic transformation faction or in opposition to the “step aside” rule that saw Magashule’s temporary removal from office. Magashule’s suspension letter states that he is not allowed to mobilise or speak on behalf of the ANC while he is suspended.
In a move that sent shockwaves inside and outside the party — and in a direct challenge to Ramaphosa, who has staked his leadership on cleaning up the ANC’s reputation on corruption — Magashule earlier in May announced that he had suspended the president. That was after the party resolved that the secretary-general should step aside while facing corruption charges linked to an asbestos replacement programme when he was Free State premier.
His move failed as the rest of the ANC leadership stood firm that he had no authority to suspend Ramaphosa, instead ordering him to apologise, which he has not done.
Business Day understands that when some branches came out in Magashule’s name in Durban two weeks ago, the ANC was reluctant to take action and have another public spat.
The party “was not fighting with Magashule, Magashule was fighting with the ANC”, the insiders said.
He was one of a number of leaders who attended former president Jacob Zuma’s trial in Pietermaritzburg last week to show support. At the time Magashule was more guarded and would only go as far as to say that he was not planning to launch his own party and that he would remain in the ANC.
At the weekend, Luthuli House is said to have received complaints about Magashule’s so-called underground mobilisation efforts “against the ANC”. People in meetings he allegedly attended reported back to the ANC’s headquarters.
Magashule could not be reached for comment on Sunday night.
Magashule’s suspension is seen as bolstering Ramaphosa’s reform agenda, which he has said aims for the ANC to be “cleansed and renewed”, with corruption allegations having cost it electoral support.
The Sunday Times reported that Ramaphosa told journalists on the sidelines of a government event in Limpopo that it was “a big surprise” for a secretary-general of the ANC to take “his own organisation” to court. This is after Magashule lodged an application to set aside his suspension, thumbing his nose at the party’s “request” that he apologise for his conduct.
Magashule has appointed Dali Mpofu, a former chair of the EFF, to represent him in court.
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