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Ace Magashule.
Image: Rosetta Msimango
- The head of the ANC presidency, Sibongile Besani, said the ANC branches have already concluded that those implicated in corruption should step aside.
- He said that Ace Magashule and his followers should not be selective in how they listen to the branches.
- Magashule said he will only step aside if the ANC branches tell him to do it.
As the top six ANC members are expected to meet on Monday, the man who heads the ANC office of President Cyril Ramaphosa at Luthuli House said ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule should not be picky when it comes to their respect for the opinions of the ANC branches.
Sibongile Besani said the ANC branches made it clear in their last conference that ANC members accused of corruption must step aside from their positions.
“If someone says that the branches should decide whether to step aside, this has already been done because the branches decided how the ANC should respond to corruption issues. You cannot choose what you hear from the branches,” he said.
Besani was responding to Magashule, who on Friday said he will not depart from his post. The embattled secretary general said he was elected by the ANC branches and that those branches would have to remove him.
Magashule faces 21 counts of fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with the controversial Free State asbestos tender of 255 million rand.
READ | ANALYSIS | Ramaphosa vs Magashule: Who will deliver the last blow?
He will join businessman Edwin Sodi and former Free State Health MEC Olly Mlamleli, among others, as defendants in this case.
Magashule said that a special national congress should be convened to address the issue.
“You can’t have this to try to choose what you listen to [to] of branches. Yes, the branches said that this is how corruption is dealt with, “Besani said.
He warned against Magashule supporters “splitting a basic legal issue that is being heard in a court of law.”
“When we divide it into factions, we are trying to divide the ANC,” Besani said.
He admitted that the arrest of an acting ANC secretary general was unprecedented and intended to evoke emotions.
“It is not an easy thing. We understand that nobody can sit comfortably in front of this type of load.[s]. “
