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Ace Magashule will meet with the body of party elders on Saturday following his arrest on criminal charges.
FILE: FILE: ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule. Image: EWN.
JOHANNESBURG – While President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) has agreed to appear before the party’s integrity commission, Eyewitness news understands that Ace Magashule confirmed an appointment with the commission last month.
READ MORE: Ramaphosa confirms that Magashule will be presented to the ANC integrity commission
Magashule will meet with the body, made up of party elders, on Saturday following his arrest on criminal charges.
It has also been at the center of fierce debates in the ANC surrounding the party’s Nasrec 2017 conference resolution that members facing serious charges should step aside.
Magashule faces 21 counts of corruption, fraud and money laundering.
Both Ramaphosa and Magashule pledged to appear before the integrity commission.
It appears that Magashule’s legal battle prompted him to seek an audience with the party elders a while ago.
In letters, what Eyewitness news As you have seen, the commission tried to schedule a meeting for November 28, but Magashule said it was engaged in another way.
ALSO READ: ‘There will be no one left’ – ANC NEC battles with the resolve to ‘step aside’
Finally, they decided on the next weekend.
UKZN political analyst Lukhona Mnguni said Magashule had managed to buy itself some time.
“And by the mere fact of that pronouncement (of appearing before the commission) apparently paralyzes the NEC from fulfilling its functions.”
Mnguni said this was happening despite the ANC’s constitution, which allows for a temporary suspension of Magashule.
The analyst said that by getting ahead of his own party, the secretary general has also set the tone for the agenda rather than dictating it to him.
Magashule will plead his case on Saturday.
WATCH: Ramaphosa: Magashule to Appear to ANC Integrity Commission
At the same time, the ANC calls for maximum discipline among its leaders and members to avoid a further fracture of the ruling party.
During his closing speech, Ramaphosa called those in Magashule’s appearance before the Bloemfontein court in October.
Some were heard making inflammatory remarks about the party and its leader, while others were seen burning the ANC flag along with T-shirts.
Ramaphosa said that such behavior was not welcome.
“It is improper for us as members to denigrate and desecrate the insignia, including sometimes the flag of our organization, in the way that some members are now seen as doing.”
The ANC president also retracted his concession on Monday that the party was deeply divided, accusing some of predicting coups and strikes at its last NEC meeting of the year.
However, he said that some have been making public statements that disagree with decisions made by party structures.
“We need to desist as leaders of this great movement – the ANC – from public statements that are at variance with the decisions of the ANC structure and that are likely to fuel divisions among us.”
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