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Supporters of ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule are leading an outbreak of factionalism within the party, with moves that political analysts interpret as a call to remove President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Magashule appeared in court last week on charges of fraud and corruption related to an asbestos eradication contract in the Free State in 2014, when the secretary general was the province’s prime minister.
It is alleged that he benefited from the contract, which was tendered at R255 million but only R21 million was used for the actual project.
Before their appearance in court, the ANC said that no member should attend the proceedings as an official party, but rather as individuals and friends, if they wish to show their support.
However, this was openly challenged by Magashule supporters, who wore the party’s colors and reportedly burned T-shirts with Ramaphosa’s face on it.
According to City Press, Magashule supporters within the party’s upper echelons held meetings last weekend to plot the defense of the secretary-general, as well as to address “leadership issues” within the party.
They reportedly want to review the makeup of the party’s leadership ahead of the party’s National General Conference to be held in 2021, which analysts believe is a call to remove Ramaphosa.
He and his supporters see the latest charges against Magashule as politically motivated. Meanwhile, the National Prosecutor’s Office says it has a solid case against him.
The ANC’s top leadership issued a directive in August that all members facing legal charges should set aside their duties, although none have yet done so, Bloomberg reported.
Magashule suggested that he will defy any order from the party’s National Executive Committee to step aside. “No one can take us out,” Magashule said.
The ANC is currently working on a legal framework that will establish the conditions under which members must withdraw. Magashule’s position is expected to be discussed at their next meeting, a date for which has yet to be announced.
“Ace Magashule is going nowhere,” NEC member Tony Yengeni told the crowd of supporters. “He will finish his term.”
Eliminating Ramaphosa
While the ANC presents a united front, behind the scenes the party often fights different factional wars, with members in the National Executive Council (NEC) representing diverse interests.
The moves against Ramaphosa are also nothing new. At an NEC meeting in late August, some members, including Tony Yengeni, who was convicted of fraud, had raised his removal before the proceedings.
In an analysis of the ANC’s political makeup following the party’s NEC meeting in August, Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Montalto said any calls to remove the president were unlikely to fly until at least 2022, when it will take place. the ANC Elective Conference.
The analyst said that while the president appears to enjoy broad support within his party, the NEC’s fractured structure since 2017, when Ramaphosa dramatically beat former President Jacob Zuma’s preferred successor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the presidency, persists. . today.
“(Ramaphosa) still has a large majority, but that is contentious and made up of many smaller sub-factions, as we have often described from NASREC,” Attard Montalto said.
“These elements have no intention of acting against you except in the 2022 elective conference, where the broad and fragile nature of your coalition is important. Certainly, some elements are considering the possibility of separating, such as Cosatu, which is already somewhat divided against him and which generates red flags about both corruption and growth plans. “
However, the analyst said that even these factions were unlikely to side with the ‘opposition’ internally, now characterized as the so-called ‘Magashule faction’, to eliminate Ramaphosa early.
This is because there is no viable alternative to Ramaphosa at this stage, he said, while noting that it is “almost impossible” to remove the ANC president through that route, requiring five of the nine provinces to support a motion to impeachment and then a majority in the NEC.
“We believe (that plan) would fail at both obstacles,” he said.
Read: Magashule officially charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering
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