Mashatile: We should allow Magashule to exercise his rights

African National Congress (ANC) treasurer-general Paul Mashatile says suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule should be given space to do what he feels is right for him.

Magashule said on Wednesday that he would appeal the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that upheld his suspension.

This after the appeal court dismissed his application with costs.

“It is the right of people to appeal where they’re not satisfied, so of course we’ll appeal to the highest court in the land because what I was arguing was about the ANC constitution, it is not in line with the constitution of the country,” said Magashule on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media during his visit to Tokyo Sexwale’s home in Soweto on Thursday, Mashatile said the ANC should not interfere, but allow Magashule to exercise his rights.

“South Africans have rights, if somebody wants to exercise those rights, they are free to do so. I don’t think we as the ANC must interfere, we should allow comrade Magashule to do what he feels is important to deal with this situation.”

He further explained that ANC MP Mervyn Dirks was not suspended for calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to explain his leaked audio, but for not following proper procedure.

“The president has never refused to account for anything. The issue of Mervyn Dirks is because he didn’t follow the right procedures. In any institutions, there are protocols. In the ANC, there are protocols, there are things you don’t do and that’s the issue. Yes, we must all account but we have leaders that we appointed in caucus and parliament, certain things must go through them in order to be dealt with. There was nothing stopping Dirks from going to the chief whip and request that the President account. We expect certain behaviour from people on our list,” Mashatile said.

ALSO READ: Magashule: You can’t suspend Mervyn Dirks for ‘doing the right thing’

ANC has paid salaries up to end of January

Mashatile further said the party had paid salaries to its employees up to the end of January.

This after staffers for months held pickets across provinces demanding that owed salaries be paid.

Mashatile has previously blamed the new Political Party Funding Act for the ANC’s financial struggles.

“The challenge we have, if I may repeat it again, is that 70 percent of our income comes from the private sector and the law requiring disclosure saw many people pull back their funding. So we struggle to raise funds,” he said in December.

“We have paid salaries up to end of January, we don’t owe anybody. If they [staffers] want to go to court, they can, but we have paid,” Mashatile told Newzroom Afrika.

On where the money for salaries came from, Mashatile said: “We fundraise. We go out there and ask good samaritans to help us.”