SUSPENDED ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule is in trouble for defying NEC instructions not to address any forum of the ANC, and making ‘divisive’ and ‘unbecoming’ comments against the party’s leadership outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court where former President Jacob Zuma appeared briefly in the arms deal corruption trial.
The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) on Tuesday confirmed it has directed its “national presenter” to look into Magashule’s defiance of the party’s instructions not to speak at any forum of the ANC or address party members, especially on the step aside issue.
A fired-up Magashule, his body trembling with rage, told ANC supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg court that it would take a lot more to ban him from the party.
“Nobody under a democracy will ban me. Nobody will remove the ANC from me. I will not form any party. I will die in the ANC,” said Magashule, despite the terms of his suspension.
The appointed ‘national presenter’ by the NWC will also look into the “divisive” behaviour of Magashule’s allies Carl Niehaus, as well national executive committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni.
They are also facing possible disciplinary action, the party’s Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
“The NWC instructed the national presenter to look into these breaches of discipline and to investigate charges in line with the ANC constitution and code of conduct,” Duarte said.
The governing party has also dealt Magashule a heavy blow in the Free State Province by installing a provincial task team of 40 people, mostly led by members aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This comes after the ANC decided to pursue a political solution, led by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, in the province after its provincial executive committee was disbanded by a court which found it had been constituted unlawfully.
The newly installed PEC is led by Ramaphosa’s close ally Mxolisi Dukwana, who has been appointed convener.
Free State premier Sefora ‘Sisi’ Ntombela was appointed as deputy convener, and former provincial secretary Paseka Nompondo is now the co-ordinator of the interim structure.
“Following the Ramakatsa vs ANC judgment, the special NEC on 8-19 May 2021 resolved that priority must be given to pursuing a political solution that will build a united and vibrant ANC in the Free Sate and endorsed the efforts led by Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe. The NEC further instructed the NWC, to avoid a political vacuum in the province, to establish an inclusive interim structure to take the province to an elective conference in due course,” said Duarte.
- Inside Politics
