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ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule may still have a few cards up his sleeve.
Magashule put tongues in motion on Tuesday night when MESS published an article stating that an arrest warrant had been issued in connection with the Estina dairy farm scandal, with comments from the man himself.
He was quoted as saying that he was “aware” that a warrant had been issued and that his arrest would be “a Hollywood-style sort of thing.”
The only problem is that both the Hawks and the National Tax Authority (NPA) say they know nothing about it. The Hawks issued a statement yesterday distancing themselves from the MESS article and label it as “a malicious intent to undermine the integrity of the organization.”
Sindisiwe Twala of the NPA Investigations Directorate said her offices were “shocked” by the article.
“A warrant has not been issued and if we planned to arrest him, we would not announce it beforehand,” Twala said.
Even the ANC yesterday morning seemed to have been taken by surprise. Party spokesman Pule Mabe said Encan Magashule had learned of “a rumor” of his impending arrest and, as a result, had informed his legal team. Several attempts to contact Magashule’s attorney yesterday were unsuccessful.
The current media storm could be just what Magashule was hoping for. Political analyst Daniel Silke said yesterday that Magashule appeared to be trying to “control the narrative” and “pre-empt” any legal action by suggesting there were political motives.
“He has already hinted that there is a political conspiracy against him and, by doing so, he is pointing the finger not at his alleged wrongdoing, but at the political forces that would like to see him overthrown,” Silke said, “so even before they can come forward. charges against him, he is suggesting that he is being politically persecuted and that helps him to gather a certain base of support within the ANC ”.
Dr. Ralph Mathekga, also a political analyst, said Magashule had always called the allegations against him in the case at hand as “political maneuvering” and “an attempt to persecute him because of his political views, not because he believes he has a case.” . answer to “.
“He’s doing what he’s always done right – stoking the political fires,” Mathekga said. However, he said that if a court order had been issued, the NPA had to provide some explanations. “Someone is lying a lot, I just hope it’s not the NPA,” he said. “From a procedural point of view, it is cause for concern if arrests are announced in advance.”
the MESS This week’s article comes in the wake of a series of recent arrests of politicians and businessmen linked to the capture of the state.
This year, eight people were arrested in connection with the VBS Mutual Bank scandal. And last week, another six were caught in connection with an unreliable R250 million tender to remove asbestos roofs in the Free State, as well as another four in connection with fraud and corruption in KwaZulu-Natal dating back to the FIFA World Cup 2020.
In 2018, several people were arrested in connection with the Estina dairy farm scandal, but the NPA has since provisionally dropped the charges. Magashule has previously been linked to the Guptas, as his son has been employed by one of the family companies and he himself has worked with Tony Gupta for three years.
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