not-so-secret The diary of Ace Magashule
Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe: Request a meeting with them but don’t schedule a date
Jacob Zuma:
Master of delaying tactics can mobilise supporters in KZN
Consult over legal options to fight step-aside resolution
MK veterans:
Very useful when disruption and chaos are needed
ANC secretary general Ace Magashule has allegedly snubbed former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, causing some party leaders to doubt his stated intent to consult party elders on whether he should step aside.
ANC leaders close to both Motlanthe and Mbeki told the Mail & Guardian that the two party veterans were still waiting for Magashule to announce when he would meet them.
Magashule had requested to meet the two former presidents three weeks ago, to which they both agreed. But the secretary general never scheduled a date for the meeting, party insiders said.
Magashule did not return the M&G’S requests for comment by the time of publication.
Shortly after the 30-day grace period for those charged to step aside was announced, Magashule indicated to the media that he had sent correspondence to the party’s former treasurer general, Mathews Phosa, and former presidents Jacob Zuma, Motlanthe and Mbeki.
“He knew what he would get from Mbeki and Motlanthe. They have been clear that he should step aside, so it served him no purpose to meet with them. It was a ruse to camouflage his plan to meet Zuma,” one party insider said.
The M&G understands that, in December, Mbeki wrote to the ANC’S top six, calling for Magashule to abide by the integrity committee findings recommending that he step aside.
In the letter, Mbeki cautioned the top six about the risk of ignoring the recommendations of the integrity commission, saying that this would cause further damage to the party’s image, as well as its renewal project, one of Ramaphosa’s lieutenants told the M&G.
A party insider close to Mbeki added that Magashule was meeting former ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa, in the hope of finding a legal route that might help him sidestep the step-aside resolution.
Another source in the Magashule camp said Phosa had offered two legal options, which Magashule could pursue at the end of the month when he had to give up his office on the sixth floor at Luthuli House.
“Phosa told him he [could] take this up with the courts. He would have a high probability of winning. Comrade Phosa has pointed out, even in his legal advice to the top six, that the step-aside resolution is unconstitutional,” the radical economic transformation (RET) faction member said. “Another option is refuse to step
aside, allow them to suspend you and appeal. The appeals process will take its own time. In this time the [secretary general] can lobby for support in provinces.”
Phosa declined to comment, saying only that he had scheduled another meeting with Magashule before the end of the month.
According to the step-aside guidelines issued by the national executive committee (NEC), if a member fails to step aside, the secretary general — or the national working committee — may refer the matter to the integrity commission to recommend on further action.
The findings will then be referred to the NEC, which would consider them and make a decision, which would then be made public.
The guidelines also allow an appeal process, in which an independent committee would “review the findings and recommendations of the integrity commission and to report to the NEC”. Once this process has been exhausted, the NEC would take a final decision on the success — or otherwise — of the appeal.
According to the guidelines, if a member then still continued to refuse to step aside, they would be temporarily suspended in terms of rule 27.70 of the party’s constitution.
It is not clear at this stage whether Magashule will exhaust the internal processes or go the court route.
Magashule is said to have met Zuma to ask for help to mobilise the former president’s supporters in ANC structures and branches, mainly in Kwazulu-natal (KZN). During his visit to the province last week, Magashule also met regional leaders, including ethekwini heavyweight Zandile Gumede, sources said.
Zuma, who is facing his own legal and political battles in the ANC, agreed to put all his muscle behind Magashule, two insiders said.
Magashule’s initial strategy of galvanising branches fell flat, when provincial secretaries blocked branches from recommending that leaders who have allegedly committed wrongdoing, including the party president, face the chop.
Last week, Magashule’s letter to secretaries — widening the scope of the step-aside resolution to include those reported, alleged and accused — was largely rejected by provinces, indicating that he had lost favour with most secretaries.
His letter followed a barrage of charges that had been laid against President Cyril Ramaphosa with the police by his supporters.
The top six also took issue with Magashule’s letter and the leaked recordings of party meetings, resulting in his once ally, deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte, calling him out during media interviews.
“He has no more cards to play and when Comrade Ace is pushed to a corner, he wants to draw blood. Same with Zuma. Both of these men know that their time is up. If Ace is pushed out of Luthuli House, that RET group is weakened,” the insider close to Mbeki said.
“Soon you will see them cosying up with people you never expected. Soon enough this RET faction will disintegrate and he knows it. By the time he gets to the NGC [national general council], if he does not have control of Luthuli House, he might end up like Julius [Malema] in Mangaung.”
The former ANC Youth League president’s hope of returning to the mother body ended in 2012 when then ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe refused his request for the Mangaung conference to review the decision by the disciplinary committee expelling him as a party member.
The M&G understands that the Magashule camp has also been meeting with some Umkhonto wesizwe (MK) veterans, including Maomela Mojo Motau, a retired general of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), former chief of military intelligence and a former member of the MK high command.
One NEC insider said the meetings are part of a plan to destabilise the country and force Ramaphosa to find a political solution for Magashule. “When Magashule is pushed out, they are threatening anarchy. The flare-up in KZN is just a precursor for what will come and the leaks in NEC meetings will increase.
“They will sabotage NEC meetings and cause chaos to force Ramaphosa into a political solution. I would not be surprised if the next NEC meeting degenerates into chaos to delay the implementation of the resolution,” the NEC member said.
Last year Motau, together with some SANDF members and MK veterans, penned a document titled “ANC Turnaround Strategy 2025: Changing the Course of History”, which suggested placing the NEC under administration and appointing a national task team as “the only viable approach and solution to the challenges we face”.
“A national task team is the only credible structure that should take charge of running ANC affairs in the short term. This is a matter of strategic importance,” the document stated.
On Wednesday, MK Military Veterans’ Association members disrupted traffic on the N2 and N3 highways using motorcades for several hours in a protest aimed at showing support for Magashule and Zuma.
Former presidents Mbeki and Motlanthe refused to comment, both referring the M&G to the ANC.
Motau denied meeting Magashule, calling it “fake news”, and saying that concerned cadres of ANC always meet to try to find solutions to problems they believe are affecting the party.
“Even on Friday next week we are going to have a meeting to discuss such issues. That is not a secret,” Motau said. “It was identified by the cadres summit that leadership of the ANC is one of the most critical issues.
“In the past few months we have engaged the leadership. They have always … argue[d] they are elected. We have come to a conclusion that indeed we now agree with the leadership of ANC that we want them as a block to step aside.
“We have not said we support one individual. We said all of them need to pack up their bags so that the ANC can be saved,” Motau added.