ANC power games no amusement

Shortly after his letter emerged this week in which he claimed to have suspended ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, Ace Magashule, who was suspended by the party, tweeted a picture of himself playing chess.

The message was clear. The embattled secretary-general fancied himself somewhat a master of what he views as a political game unfolding in the ANC.

On Monday, deputy secretarygeneral Jessie Duarte wrote to Magashule, informing him of his temporary suspension for the duration of his corruption trial.

Magashule responded with his own letter – a piece of correspondence devoid of any credibility – claiming powers he does not have and purporting to suspend Ramaphosa as party leader.

So dubious was the letter that its authenticity quickly came into question, leading to a desperate Magashule, now stripped off his ANC communication machinery, to call journalists to confirm that the letter was indeed authentic.

The events of Wednesday night would be laughable had they carried no consequences for SA.

Magashule’s approach is indicative of how some of the players involved in these neverending tit-for-tat leadership squabbles in the ANC inherently see the party not as a vehicle of societal change, but an opportunity to access power and resources.

This is why the ANC is in a perpetual state of chaos at all its spheres of leadership. The central figures may change from time to time, but the self-destruction has been an enduring feature of the party’s identity for many years.

This week’s events are perhaps a marker of the extent of the degeneration of the party’s politics, even by its own standards. That this kind of disruption happens at its headquarters has become blatantly overt and increasingly crass in nature, just months before an election tells us as much.

The party executive will go to its meeting this weekend, with Ramaphosa appearing to hold the upper hand. Magashule may, as some suggest, challenge his suspension in court or even face harsher sanction from the party.

Regardless, what the rest of us ought to keep in mind is that while this appears to be a tipping point in the ANC, it is only another chapter in its shameful post-apartheid history.