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The party’s weekend NEC meeting appears to be a breaking point: The two factions that have tenuously coexisted since Ramaphosa was elected party leader in December 2017 are now in open political warfare. The meeting appears to have descended into a gigantic tit-for-tat session that did not address vaccines, the economy, unemployment, the stratospheric cost of electricity, or any other public issue that impacts the people of South Africa.
ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule, who, along with his co-defendants, has been charged with 74 counts of fraud and corruption in the R33 million asbestos roof audit in the Free State, is considered by the constitution of the ANC for having committed an act of misconduct, the senior party leaders resolved at the exciting meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on the weekend of the party.
A motion was made that he therefore remove himself from his position in seven days or he would face suspension and disciplinary investigation, and this caused what News 24 described as a “descent into chaos”. President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to postpone a widely publicized closing speech on Sunday, March 28, as the meeting enters the fourth day.
Magashule supporters said he would refuse to step aside and reiterated his view that only a national branch conference could force him to do so. For two weeks, Magashule has denied that any ANC structure has authority over him or key decision-making power, as if public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane should face an investigation into his fitness for office. The party constitution is clear in the sense that the NEC has decision-making power between conferences.
The party’s weekend NEC meeting appears to be a breaking point: The two factions that have tenuously coexisted since Ramaphosa was elected party leader in December 2017 are now in open political warfare. Outside the ANC headquarters, Casa Luthuli, over the weekend, Magashule’s de facto private militia, a contingent of members of the MK Military Veterans Association, marched in camouflage uniforms in protest against any action against the secretary general. .
These two factions can be classified as a reform wing and a Radical Economic Transformation (RET) wing. Ramaphosa won by a minimal majority in 2017, and his support for the NEC is a slim majority, meaning that most meetings are battle zones. The weekend meeting appears to have been worse than usual, with City press reporting that it was a festival of disputes as the two factions attempted to score points against each other.
All of Ramaphosa’s allies who have also faced corruption challenges were told that they should step aside as well if Magashule was forced to do so. The meeting appears to have descended into a gigantic tit-for-tat session that did not address vaccines, the economy, unemployment, the stratospheric cost of electricity, or any other public issue that impacts the people of South Africa.
What is likely to happen now?
Magashule runs his office with a circle of his own lieutenants (rather than party officials), and he is unlikely to accept a suspension. The partisan political drama will be the template for the remainder of 2021, while Relationship reported over the weekend that Luthuli House staff want to strike because their packages and conditions of service have been reduced.
The party may convene a disciplinary committee that can draft a charge sheet against Magashule to include the misconduct related to the criminal charges and press charges of insubordination against him if he does not step aside.
Rule 25.17.4 of the party constitution defines an act of misconduct as: “Engaging in any unethical or immoral conduct that undermines the character, values and integrity of the ANC, as determined by the Integrity Commission, which brings or may bring or has the potential to bring or, as a consequence, discredits the ANC. ”
The Integrity Commission completed its report on Magashule in December 2020 and said the NEC should push it aside.
The ANC’s palace policy hardly resembles the issues that concern the people of South Africa, but they are important because factional battles can destabilize the government; delay the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine, as the executive’s eye is on party politics rather than the public health emergency; and because there is now a developing view that a weakened Ramaphosa who cannot lead his party will be a one-term president. DM
