‘Civil war’ in the Free State ANC
It’s the Magashule faction against the Dukwana grouping as the fractious rulers go head to head with firings, counter-firings and court battles — while control of the province’s only metro may be in the balance
Internal ANC ructions take a back seat ahead of elections as the party faithful pull together to ensure victory — but across the country, factional battles are simmering just beneath the surface.
In the Free State, the battle between loyalists of suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and a newly installed temporary provincial leadership structure has reached boiling point.
Magashule was ANC chair in the Free State from 1992 to 2017. But internal developments this week show that any hope he had of using his former province and stronghold as a platform for a comeback are vanishing fast.
His dwindling support in the Free State is a direct result of the disbanding of the provincial executive committee under former chair Sam Mashinini, who was a staunch Magashule loyalist, and its replacement with an interim provincial committee led by longtime Magashule opponent Mxolisi Dukwana.
Magashule’s criminal trial begins on Tuesday, October 19. He and his 15 co-accused face 74 counts of fraud, theft, money laundering and corruption linked to a R255m asbestos tender during his tenure as provincial premier.
The FM understands that the pending
ANC disciplinary process against him — mainly over his refusal to step aside and his so-called suspension of President Cyril Ramaphosa soon after his own suspension in May — has been placed on the back-burner due to the elections. He is likely to face an internal party disciplinary process after the polls.
This week a key Magashule ally, controversial former mayor and chief whip in the legislature Vusi Tshabalala, was suspended with immediate effect. He is set to face an ANC disciplinary process for aiding independent candidates, who are contesting municipalities against his own party.
Interim provincial committee spokesman Oupa Khoabane says the party will produce evidence that Tshabalala has been helping independent candidates.
Tshabalala, the former Malutia-Phofung mayor, resigned in 2018 shortly before 16 councillors from his own party were set to vote against him in a motion of no confidence brought by the opposition.
Dubbed the “gangster mayor” after alleged looting at the municipality saw it placed under administration, Tshabalala was among Magashule’s staunchest allies.
The 16 ANC councillors were
later expelled from the party by Magashule’s cronies, who controlled the province at the time. After the provincial leadership was disbanded and replaced with an interim provincial committee, attempts were made to have them return to the fold.
In the meantime, Magashule loyalists in his province are pushing for the removal of his long-time nemesis, Dukwana, who is a key witness against him in the state capture commission. Dukwana was recently appointed an MEC (member of the executive committee).
Former Letsemeng local municipality mayor Thandi Reachable has threatened to approach the courts to have Dukwana removed from the provincial legislature, arguing that he was unlawfully inserted onto the ANC’s list for MPL (member of the provincial legislature) posts.
Dukwana was sworn in as an MPL in September and thereafter as MEC for co-operative governance & traditional affairs, in a farreaching cabinet reshuffle by former Magashule loyalist premier
Sisi Ntombela. Ntombela is no longer aligned to Magashule and axed his staunchest ally, Mashinini, from the provincial cabinet.
Mashinini resigned from the legislature after he was fired, opting to leave instead of staying on as a back-bencher.
Years of fiddling with internal democracy and provincial lists are coming back to haunt the Free State. Its provincial elective conferences have been repeatedly challenged in court since 2012 and even its provincial list conference ahead of the 2019 election was subjected to legal action.
While Reachable is threatening to take the provincial leadership to court over Dukwana’s appointment as an MPL, her own appearance on the party’s list ahead of the 2019 election was the subject of court action lodged back then.
Three provincial party leaders challenged the party’s list process in court, arguing that they were
unlawfully excluded from the list while candidates such as Reachable, who did not meet the criteria for addition as an MPL, were included. The matter was struck off the court roll in April 2019, with judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi ruling that it was not urgent.
Khoabane said the matter was being dealt with internally and that Reachable had not yet filed court papers, but only threatened to do so via a letter from her lawyers.
Dukwana declined to comment immediately, saying discussions to resolve the impasse were ongoing.
While the battle rages, the ANC in the Free State has a bigger concern: whether the change of guard in the province can stave off the stark electoral decline it faced in 2016, in the only metro in the province, Mangaung. The party’s support in Bloemfontein fell from 66% in 2011 to 56% in 2016.
A similar rate of decline in this election could see the ANC lose the metro outright.
But Khoabane says the party is confident that this time it will be able to ensure that its members pitch up to vote on November 1.
“If you recall, the ANC’s support did not go to opposition parties, our own supporters stayed away,” he says.
“We are confident that this time, they will turn up to vote in their numbers.”