ANC leaders turned themselves into political commentators – Magashule

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has come out again, guns blazing in recent commentary made about veterans of the African National Congress (ANC) who he believes acted like “ordained commentators” by bashing leaders of the organisation during election time.

These assertions were made in a confidential report to a meeting of the party’s top brass which was held last week.

In said report, Magashule accused members of the Veterans League of ill-discipline and playing to the public gallery reports Sunday World. 

According to the publication, the purpose of the report was to assess the state of the party’s leagues – including the recently disbanded Youth League and the Women’s League.

Magashule recommended that veterans should use proper channels to criticise and advise the leadership of the party.

“In this regard, during elections we had senior leaders who turned themselves into public commentators, articulating their personal views, which they portray as official pronouncements of the ANC Veterans League, speaking outside of the purview of the ANC Veterans League and its elected leadership,” said Magashule.

“This is petty, opportunistic political posturing unnecessary from the veterans,” he added.

Magashule also accused the Veterans League of patriarchy and chauvinism.

This comes after a number of veterans came out in former tourism minister Derek Hanekom’s defence against Magashule after publicly lambasted Hanekom for having confessed to plotting with the Economic Freedom Fighters, among others, to remove former president Jacob Zuma.

Speaking to the publication, ANC Veterans League president Snuki Zikalala said: “I do not agree with the SG [Magashule] that there were veterans who were disrespectful and spoke out of tune or contradicted the ANC manifesto.”

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