We were warned about Ramaphosa, says Magashule

African Congress for Transformation (ACT) leader Ace Magashule and other African National Congress (ANC) leaders were warned against backing Cyril Ramaphosa for deputy president in 2012.

Ramaphosa served as then president Jacob Zuma’s deputy until his ascension to the top seat after the 2017 Nasrec conference, where he was elected president against Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

ALSO READ: Ace Magashule’s new political ACT: Former ANC SG launches new party

Magashule, who was expelled from the ANC in June after being charged with misconduct by the party for illegally suspending Ramaphosa, was a guest on MacG’s Podcast and Chill on Thursday.

Magashule vs Ramaphosa

The former ANC secretary-general said although he was expelled from the party under Ramaphosa’s leadership, he was one of the people who backed him for deputy president back in 2012 – but not without a warning.

“In 2017, there was NDZ and CR, and factionalism reared its ugly head. What South Africans don’t know is that we were the people who brought Cyril Ramaphosa to be the ANC’s deputy president and were warned.

ALSO READ: Magashule’s political party a ‘last throw of the dice’ – analyst

“We called on Zweli Mkhize to come in, and he told us, ‘But you have Zuma, who is from KZN’, but we told him it was not about that. When we elect leaders, we go for people who we think have the necessary capacity and abilities. That’s why we made him [Zweli Mkhize] treasurer-general.”

While the SACP and Cosatu did not want Ramaphosa as the party’s deputy in 2012, they made a U-turn and backed him for the presidency in 2017.

“In 2012, everyone else said no to Ramaphosa, but we said yes. In 2017, when everyone else was saying Cyril [Ramaphosa] for president, we said no because we wanted NDZ,” he said.

‘We didn’t know’

Magashule said he backed Ramaphosa for deputy president because there was information about him that he was not aware of.

“We didn’t know some of the things about him. We were prewarned and told certain things, and we just believed that he was the right man to lead. There are things I can’t talk about. We liked him because we had worked with him as a leader,” he said.

ALSO READ: ‘Ace will have his own charade’ – Fikile Mbalula weighs in on Magashule’s new party

“I don’t want to talk badly about the movement; I don’t want to talk badly about any leader of the ANC. I’m not that type of person. I don’t do what [Fikile] Mbalula does. I can talk one day and once, and I think I can finish him off.”

Magashule and former presidents

Although Magashule believes the tension between him and Ramaphosa is more about the differences in their ideologies, he said he still has a “wonderful” relationship with former ANC leaders.

“My relationship with him [Zuma] is wonderful. With all the presidents we’ve worked with, [Nelson] Mandela, [Thabo] Mbeki, Zuma, wonderful,” he said.

“Zuma is a warm person. He is a real people’s leader; forget us. He’s a father, that’s why he still stays in Nkandla, where there are no rich people, surrounded by poverty.”