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The Secretary General of the ANC, Ace Magashule. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi)
Despite a recent resolution that those accused of corruption should step aside, the ANC said it would wait for its secretary general, Ace Magashule, to ‘guide any response on the matter’ from the arrest warrant issued in his against in connection with a R255 million Asbestos Audit Bid.
ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule was in the middle of a door-to-door ahead of the elections in Emdeni, Soweto (in the ANC’s secure Ward 130) on Tuesday afternoon when News broke that an arrest warrant had been issued against him in connection with the asbestos audit worth 255 million rand in the Free State.
Dressed in a yellow raincoat and wearing black umbrellas to protect him from the rain, he told a small crowd, including journalists, that: “The enemy has infiltrated the African National Congress. At the right time, we will talk about some of these things. “
This was not intended to convince residents to vote for the ANC. They said News 24 journalist Lizeka Tandwa that they are struggling because they have been without power for seven months, or that their R350 Covid-19 grants have stopped. Rather, it was intended as a warning to Magashule’s comrades, particularly President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has been indicted by the Magashule lobby in the party: more recent and indirectly by a document compiled by a group of ANC cadres led by retired defense intelligence chief Maomela “Mojo” Motau – for lacking the proper fighting credentials.
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Ramaphosa has led the fight against corruption in the ANC. He personally addressed a press conference in late August to communicate a resolution of the National Executive Committee that said that “ANC cadres who are formally accused of corruption or other serious crimes should immediately withdraw from all leadership positions in the ANC, legislatures or other government structures pending the completion of their cases. Ramaphosa mentioned that there was a “choreographed campaign” against him for his anti-corruption crusade.
Magashule on Tuesday said: “I have done nothing wrong, I am a law-abiding citizen.” ANC spokesperson and NEC member Dakota Legoete, who took Magashule aside to brief him shortly after the news broke, was on Magashule’s defensive:
“We saw in social media that there is a court order. This is not how we run our systems. “
Speaking to the ANC comrades, Legoete said: “All our structures, all our branches, all our leaders must remain calm.” He said that Magashule “is a citizen protected by all laws, protected by the Constitution of the country and reserves the right to remain silent. You will respond to the courts and judiciary at the relevant time once the charges against you are preferred.
“For now we are going to ask our secretary general to keep quiet and serve alongside his legal team. They know what to do under the circumstances. “
He urged the other ANC leaders to focus on the upcoming by-elections. “None of us should panic or lose focus. We must remain calm and allow the ANC to come out of the by-elections. ”
It is time for the corrupt ANC cadres to face the full power of the law and be imprisoned for their treacherous corruption that continues to rob the poor and enrich the party’s elite.
The ANC statement, issued by spokesperson Pule Mabe, indicated that the party would take a wait-and-see approach and that Magashule would ask its legal team what was the best way to respond to the latest developments before “guiding any response on the matter. ” .
Magashule “previously spoke about his impending arrest and had requested his legal team to establish the validity of said arrest with the relevant authorities,” the statement said, possibly referring to a false report from MESS last month, which was denied by the Hawks.
“The ANC will closely monitor these developments and will accordingly communicate on any updates if the need arises,” the statement said. He did not mention anything about the resolution that those accused of corruption should step aside, nor the possible intervention of the party’s Integrity Commission, which could make recommendations in that regard.
Carl Niehaus of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) said the organization was “angry and dismayed” by the arrest warrant.
“This is an extremely serious event both for the ANC and for our entire South African community. MKMVA will respond in due course with a full statement, ”said Niehaus’s statement.
“As MKMVA we warn many times against the selective use of corruption charges and law enforcement agencies as tools for selection of factions and internal political struggles cause disunity in the African National Congress (ANC) and in general in our country [sic]. It is also fundamentally a lack of respect for our Constitution and the rule of law in general. “
Reflecting Magashule’s hint about an enemy infiltration, Niehaus added the hashtags #StopTheWedgeDriversInOurANC and #HandsOffAceMagashule. to your statement.
The district attorney in the Free State tried to claim the victory as his own, saying he was “delighted” because it was DA MPL Leona Kleynhans “who has pursued this case relentlessly since 2015, which ultimately culminated in the charges against Magashule in May of this year”. year, which has ensured that Magashule is finally put on the book [sic]”.
DA’s statement referred to the civil lawsuit that the party filed against the asbestos contract, although that lawsuit did not touch Magashule’s role in it.
“It is time for the corrupt ANC cadres to confront the full power of the law and be imprisoned for their betrayal of the corruption that continues to rob the poor and enrich the party’s elite.”
The statement questioned why the ANC, in the two years since the publication of Daily maverick the book by journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh Gangster status detailing Magashule’s deals in the Free State, he “did absolutely nothing to act on his own account in the face of the damning corruption charges.
Freedom Front Plus praised Magashule’s arrest warrant as “good news for South Africa” and said it showed that the wheels of justice were turning, albeit slowly.
“Experience has taught that once the first consecutive domino falls, the rest will soon follow,” he said. DM
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