‘You attack Ace Magashule, you attack us’ – supporters during the march to the Zondo commission

• Supporters of the ANC general secretary Ace Magashule are calling for an urgent meeting of the national general council.
• The NGC meeting was postponed when the country went into lockdown.
• Supporters protest the Zondo commission, accusing it of a politically motivated attack on former President Jacob Zuma.

The ANC has no excuse for delaying a meeting of the National General Council (NGC), one of the organizers of the “Hands off Ace Magashule” campaign and ANC Member of Parliament Thabo Mmutle told News24.

Currently, a fleet of cars is heading towards the Zondo commission to protest what they say is a “politically motivated attack” against former President Jacob Zuma and ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule.

The protest was organized shortly after reports emerged this week that an alleged arrest warrant against Magashule would be executed. The Hawks have denied the existence of such a court order.

Mmutle, one of the main organizers and a former member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC Youth League, said they were marching towards the commission of inquiry into the capture of the state to protest against the way Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo was “playing politics.” .

He said:

Mmutle added that some within the ANC NEC were negotiating the implementation of the Nasrec resolution, threatening the ANC’s goal of providing economic freedom to poor South Africans.

READ | Zuma will not attend the State Capture Commission until Zondo is recused

These resolutions include the nationalization of the Reserve Bank of South Africa and the expropriation of land without compensation.

Mmutle denied that Magashule was aware of the protest and said they did not have to obtain his approval.

“He doesn’t need to know. He doesn’t have to approve. He’s the one under attack. You attack Magashule, you attack us. Look!” he said.

Magashule and Zuma supporters, commonly known as the Radical Economic Transformation Forces (RET), are also calling for the NGC to take place urgently. The ANC canceled all its planned conferences, including its midterm NGC after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster in March.

The warring factions see the NGC as the front line with the faction against Ramaphosa, and see the NGC as an opportunity to deal a fatal blow to Ramaphosa and his followers.

There has been growing discontent within the ANC over the party’s inability to implement several of its resolutions taken at its 54th national conference in December 2017, in Nasrec.

“There is no excuse for the delay in the NGC. We are at Level 1 now. The ANC should be able to some extent to continue their program. We want to assess what the problem is in terms of implementation or how far they are in implementation of the resolutions taken in Nasrec, “Mmutle said.

READ ALSO | Magashule attorney, Hawks knows nothing about ‘arrest warrant‘

In September, News24 reported that Zuma’s lawyers wrote to Zondo asking him to recuse himself due to his “partial predisposition” toward the former leader.

In a letter written by his legal team, Abogados de Mabuza, Zuma states that he is of the opinion that he has been “targeted” by the commission of inquiry.

This followed an ultimatum from Zondo earlier this month, when he announced ahead of the commission proceedings that the new non-negotiable dates for Zuma’s appearance to testify would be November 16-20.

He said that on October 9 at 09:00, the commission will hear a request submitted by its legal team for an order authorizing the issuance of a subpoena.

Efforts to reach ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe were unsuccessful. Your comments will be added in due course.

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