File picture. ANC Secretary General, Ace Magashule appears at Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court with his co-accused, including 3 people arrested last night on February 19, 2021 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Magashule were arrested, charged and released on bail in connection with the multimillion rand asbestos contract scandal in the Free State. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)
DA leader John Steenhuisen has described unfolding events in the ANC as a “civil war” in which the victims will be South Africans.
The ANC on Wednesday announced the suspension of its secretary-general Ace Magashule. Later on Magasule retaliated with the ‘counter-suspension’ of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Last night, we saw the first shots fired in what is set to become a fight to the death inside the ANC,” Steenhuisen said on Thursday.
“None of the factions involved in this war are fighting for the people of South Africa.”
They are all fighting for control over the industrial-scale patronage machine that the ANC has become.
Steenhuisen said the people of South Africa would be the “true victims of this civil war”.
He said with the ANC being the majority party its battles were likely to spill over into society.
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“It is clear that Ace Magashule and his fellow bandits will not hesitate to burn our country to the ground to hang onto their ill-gotten gains and stay out of jail. On the other hand, it is clear that Cyril Ramaphosa’s feeble strategy of appeasement has backfired spectacularly on a president who puts the preservation of his party over the interests of our country.”
Steenhuisen said the DA would call for an urgent debate of national importance in Parliament on the threat posed to democracy by the “civil war” in the governing party and the need for parties to realign politics to save the country.
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