Integrity commission: may the farce be with you

The farce that is the ANC integrity commission was proven when, days after it asked the party’s secretary-general Ace Magashule to step down with immediately effect, he is still in his position.

Political analyst professor Susan Booysen, research director at Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, has questioned Magashule’s justification for using stolen state funds for a “just cause” to fund students to study overseas.

Booysen said Magashule’s claim to have used suspected stolen money for an overseas education bursary for Free State students was questionable.

If this was an indication of the ANC’s moral standards, it needed to rethink its values, she said.

Booysen said Magashule was likely not the only senior ANC member who tried to justif y an illegal act by explaining the misuse of state funds as good cause expenditure when, in fact, it was used for personal patronage.

Another analyst, Dr Ralph Mathekga, said Magashule would fight on because if he lost the “fightback” of the Zuma camp, he and the rest of the camp would be out.

“There is a lot at stake for him. If he loses this fightback, he is going straight to jail. It’s all about survival for him and the chances of him and others being jailed are good,” he said.

Mathekga said Magashule realised that without being in the ANC, he would be vulnerable.

Magashule, who is a former Free State premier, is implicated in the asbestos scandal in which millions of rands were allegedly stolen in the name of replacing asbestos roofs for the poor in the province. He was charged with corruption and released on R200 000 bail.

The ANC integrity commission at the weekend recommended that Magashule step aside with immediate effect.

Booysen said there were legitimate ways to direct state money to fund good causes.

“There is no doubt the funds were used for his personal patronage network to build his power and his political kingdom in the Free State,” Booysen said.