PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies in the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) have once again failed to force Ace Magashule to step down as ANC Secretary General.
This comes after the party’s NEC made new recommendations on the step aside guidelines, which includes taking the 2017 conference resolution back to the branches before taking a decision.
The NEC, however, called on members of the party accused of corruption or misdemeanours to act in the interest of the ANC and step aside voluntarily in line with the recommendations of the integrity commission and the conference resolution.
ANC branches have not convened since the party’s elective congress.
Ramaphosa is struggling to assert his authority over the ANC since winning its presidency by a narrow margin in 2017.
During his closing remarks on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the NEC meeting adopted guidelines on implementing resolutions of the 54th conference on members and leaders in conflict with the law or accused of serious misdemeanours.
“It is within this context that we must workshop the guidelines with our structures and begin implementation,’ said Ramaphosa.
“In the meantime, the NEC calls on affected members to act in the interest of protecting and enhancing the integrity and credibility of the organisation and step aside voluntarily in line with the recommendations of the integrity commission and the conference resolution.”
Magashule, a senior party official and one of Ramaphosa’s biggest political detractors, is resisting calls to step down after being charged with corruption, alleging he’s unfairly being singled out.
Last year, the integrity commission found that Magashule should step aside from his Luthuli House position while facing court action.
Magashule is expected appear at the High Court in Bloemfontein this week along with his co-accused.
They have been charged with 21 counts of fraud, money laundering and corruption in the controversial asbestos project in the Free State when Magashule was still a premier.
In January 2018, the Hawks unit of South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation raided Magashule’s offices in connection with the Vrede Dairy Project, calling it a “scheme designed to defraud and steal monies” from the Free State Department of Agriculture.
In November 2017 the winner of a tender from the provincial government Magashule headed alleged that Magashule had personally encouraged him to act as a front for the contract.
He was elected Secretary General of the ANC in December 2017 during the party’s elective conference.
During his first court appearance last year, a defiant Magashule told his supporters that only branches had the right to ask him to step aside.
(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)
