There is a plan to make sure ANC goes down – Magashule

Suspended African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule claims there is a plan to ensure the ANC loses support and only governs through coalitions.

This role is being played by among others, the media, that criticises the ruling party while elevating individuals within the organisation. This, according to the suspended secretary-general, is a “foreign” concept as the ANC has a culture of “moving as a collective” and not thinking one member is more important than the other.

“The plan is to finish the ANC and promote certain individuals. We were able to sit down and analyse the situation and come to a conclusion that the enemy doesn’t sleep. The enemy will never leave a strong ANC in tact, they want coalitions. It’s about money now more than servicing the people,” he said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Thursday evening.

Magashule further denied being part of a campaign that sought to discourage people from voting.

“How do I tell people not to vote only for me to go and vote?”

“I’m a member of the ANC and could not stand by and not campaign for the party when I could see they are facing challenges. I did not need to ask for permission for anyone to campaign for the ANC.”

Magashule: Election results reflect badly on the leadership

Commenting on the results of the local government elections, where the ruling party performed badly, Magashule said it reflected badly on the leadership of the ANC as a collective.

“I listened to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Jeff Radebe talking about possible coalitions and they both agreed the ANC performed so badly for the first time in 27 years. This reflects badly on the leadership as a collective. We know when the ANC is divided then the churches and communities are divided because it’s an important organisation and people see it as a party that fought for freedom,” said Magashule.

“They see a different ANC. We think our fights and disunity do not affect the communities, but they do. They say they’re going to do better, but it’s the same councillors who are coming back.”

Magashule said the power crisis should not be blamed for the bad election results because it was always there and people knew.

“If people have confidence in the leadership of the ANC they’ll vote.”

According to Magashule, the factions, fights and differences played a huge role in how people responded at the polls.

“I don’t know if we’ll recover from this.”