Magashule plays ‘significant’ role behind scenes, but has no impact on conference

Appearing tired, defeated and with the weight of the world seemingly on his shoulders, multimillion-rand asbestos corruption accused Ace Magashule this week appeared to imply an attack by the judiciary on black people following the release on parole of Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Waluś and the reversing Arthur Fraser’s decision to release Jacob Zuma on parole.

The unhappy-looking suspended ANC secretary-general was seen in a video shared by suspended uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus on Monday. In the video, he spoke about the struggles of the black man and that Africa needed to awaken.

‘Black man, you are on your own’

“Black man, you are on your own. Democrats, you are on your own. Freedom fighters, you are on your own. Africa awake, so are the days of our lives in South Africa,” he said.

University of the Free State political analyst and associate professor of sociology Dr Sethulego Matebesi said Magashule, who was the Free State premier for many years and also the second defector leader of the so-called radical economic transformation (RET) forces in the ANC, still carried influence in the ruling party.

Matebesi said Magashule still played a “significant” role behind the scenes but his influence had no impact for the upcoming ANC national elective conference.

WATCH: ‘Black man, you are on your own’, warns Magashule

“I do not think that influence will make any significant changes,” he said.

He said Magashule had a following in the ANC and a lot happened far from the public domain. He noted there was once media snippets which suggested that the Free State’s failure to convene a provincial elective conference had to do with his influence and it was clear it was factional politics at play.

“You know once you face so many challenges, it is good for you if there is chaos because you want to paint others as being incompetent. We have many lessons history had taught us,” he said.

“People like Magashule still [wield] extraordinary powers where they can influence some leaders to take certain routes, but I still do not think his influence will have any significant impact in the ANC national elective conference. We can never say he does not have any influence because people like that do not just step aside without engaging with the structures of the ANC, even if they have been publicly asked not to do so by the organisation.”

Matebesi said Magashule had been seen attending meetings after his court cases, making public pronouncements which went against what he was suspended for but still had a following which would back him.

“We have seen on numerous occasions where people say they do not support factional politics but the question remained on why they followed the same line or trajectory in terms of their public pronouncements,” he said.

Magashule out of voting process

However, political analyst André Duvenhage said, in terms of the voting process, Magashule was completely out of the whole process.

“I cannot see him easily coming back into the voting process,” he said. Duvenhage said Magashule seemed not part of the RET group or in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s slate.

“The RET groups seem to have disintegrated looking at the nomination process. There is also direct conflict between him and Ramaphosa still going on.”

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He added that Magashule’s comments on the judiciary were just an attempt to become relevant.

“Magashule is losing his influence and his relevance in the political environment,” he said.

Regarding the ANC and its members, political analyst Xolani Dube said, as a whole, the ANC did not have weight and power and in that case, “everyone there did not have weight”.

– lungas@citizen.co.za