What next for Ace Magashule?

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule may be out on his own after being ordered by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) to step aside, but he may use his 30-day “grace period” to mobilise his supporters – and those of Jacob Zuma – to launch a counterattack on the party leadership.

That one-month hiatus could be a watershed moment in the history of the movement because it could determine whether it breaks apart or stays together.

Magashule must now decide, say political analysts, whether to further enrage his supporters by complying with the NEC order and thereby painting himself as a martyr, or continuing to remain defiant.

Indications are clear that if he chooses to remain defiant, it would have serious implications for the party and the country as a whole, say political analysts, Ralph Mathekga commended the governing party for at least having made a definite decision on the issue.

The analyst said President Cyril Ramaphosa had to be firm and decisive on the matter as South Africans have grown impatient with the ANC squabbling.

Mathekga said it was clear Ramaphosa wanted to push for a harder stance on the “step aside” issue, but there had been pushback by the opposite faction. Magashule and his supporters would use the 30-day period to try and stall the process to ensure they remained in the ANC.

“But the 30 days is the closest to certainty. Remember, there has never been this kind of commitment before on step aside.

“The 30 days is going to lapse and when that happens it will be interesting to see what’s going to happen within the party,” Mathekga said.

Mathekga and others were reacting to the ANC’s decision to give Magashule and all those facing corruption and other serious criminal charges 30 days to step aside as per the party resolution at Nasrec.

Magashule has resisted doing so, resulting in heated debates between the Ramaphosa camp and the Zuma faction.

The Thuma Mina camp, as the Ramaphosa faction is known, had demanded that Magashule should step aside over the corruption, fraud and money laundering charges he faces but their opponents said he should stay as he was not the only one on the wrong side of the law.

Another analyst, Professor Barry Hanyane from North-West University, said there were serious implications to the fiasco in what seemed to be Magashule’s refusal to set an example to step aside.

“The sad part is that this may set a precedent for other officials who are in more or less the same position, like [Bongani] Bongo, former Eastern Cape MEC [Sindiswa] Gomba and other members who are seriously implicated,” Hanyane said.

Magashule’s stance could also influence those implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, who may also refuse to step aside.

Besides Bongo, Gomba and the VBS accused, others facing criminal charges and therefore obliged to follow the step aside order are Zuma, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, ANC KZN deputy chair Mike Mabuyakhulu and former Mangaung mayor Olly Mlamleli, who all face corruption charges.

Leaders such as Ramaphosa, Gwede Mantashe, Nomvula Mokonyane and Zizi Kodwa were merely mentioned in Commission of Inquiry into State Capture allegations but have not yet been criminally charged in court.

Mathekga wondered if the ANC would prevent Magashule and all those affected from attending party meetings after their suspensions.

“It appears that at some point Ramaphosa needs to take a principled position. South Africans are becoming impatient with what is going on in the ANC because it’s affecting the performance of government.

“Ramaphosa, as president, has no choice. He had to do this. But the question now is what happens after the 30 days. That is the mystery,” Mathekga said.

Hanyane said Magashule’s behaviour raised questions about how the secretary-general’s office should be managed, including scrutinising the calibre of the person who occupies it.

“Do people who are in this office present themselves as being beyond reproach, whose integrity should not be questioned?” he asked.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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