Free State Premier’s loss buries Ace Magashule

Former ANC secretary-general and Free State premier Ace Magashule’s political career seems to be over following the election of his enemy, new Free State premier Mxolisi Dukwana, say political analysts.

Dukwana was elected as premier last Friday after his predecessor Sisi Ntombela was forced to resign last Tuesday.

Dukwana’s election has been viewed by many as the final nail in the coffin of Magashule’s political career.

Dukwana is also known to be an ally of President Cyril Ramphosa and a person who despises Magashule.

During his acceptance speech, Dukwana called his election a day of hope and restoration. He also took a swipe at Magashule, saying his election would not have been possible without the prayers of the Vrede dairy farmers whose project was taken over by gangsters.

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Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast said Magashule’s career in the ANC had stalled when he was forced to step aside after being charged with corruption and fraud emanating from a R225 million asbestos project.

“If it was up to him, he would have stood for the ANC presidency but because of the step-aside principle, he could not. We do not know how long that case could run but it could run for the next two years,” Breakfast said.

“People like Sisi Ntombela were seen to be a pipe through which he could communicate his views.

“His political career is practically over. It is not clear which way the wind is blowing until this case is over. He is hamstrung by this ongoing court challenge.”

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Dukwana had an advantage over the Magashule sympathisers as he is in the Ramaphosa camp.

“He has received the blessing of the ANC headquarters because he is aligned to the president’s faction,” he said.

Political analyst Xolani Dube said Magashule’s suspension from the ANC had left him out in the cold.

“Ace has nothing to do with the Free State; he was suspended by the NEC [and] did not even attend the elective conference.”

ANC Free State deputy provincial chair Toto Makume told The Citizen the new ANC Free State leadership’s aim was to implement the resolutions of the national and provincial conferences as those resolutions acted in the interest of their people.

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There had also been rumours the Free State PEC had started to purge those who sympathised with Magashule.

“The ANC has reviewed its deployees and performance based on the work that needed to be done and on the work that needs to be done. Comrades individually know that some will be deployed and some will be re-deployed,” Makume said.

“About people who were in comrade Ace or Ma Ntombela’s candidacy, the same thing is going to happen to them.

“They will be reviewed like any other cadre of the movement. Definitely, they will be those who asked to give other comrades a chance but there will be those who will have to continue because of the work that needs to be done.”

He said this would be done in the interest of the people not because they were purging those who did not make it into the PEC.

Disgruntled ANC members had felt the Free State provincial conference was rigged to favour Dukwana and those at the helm of power in the province. These members have since threatened to go to court to declare last month’s conference invalid.

However, nothing has officially been brought to the provincial leadership’s attention. “The conference was fair [and] observers from regional structures also declared it fair.”

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