ANC vs ANC: Ramaphosa is behind my purge, Magashule says

Suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule has singled out the party’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, essentially accusing him of being at the forefront of a bid to unceremoniously remove him from his post.

Magashule is taking legal action against the ANC, over the enforcement of its step-aside policy, which has no doubt further fueled tensions between factions. In his court papers, filed with the High Court in Gauteng, Magashule takes aim at the party’s leadership and claims his rights are being violated.

While it had long been known that the two factions in the ANC – the one aligned to Ramaphosa and the other to Magashule (the so-called ‘Radical Economic Transformation’ grouping), the embattled SG had rarely, if ever, directly pointed fingers at the party’s leader.

Ace Magashule points fingers at Ramaphosa

Ace Magashule is as candid as can be when coming to his stance on Cyril Ramaphosa and his plans to bag another term in office, claiming he (Ramaphosa) is hell-bent on “capturing” the secretary general’s office, which is considered the most powerful position in the ANC.

“The real motive behind my being purged is the desire to remove me, by hook or by crook, from the all-powerful position of SG so the road to the re-election of president Cyril Ramaphosa and his faction in the next national conference is made easier. I may add that the fears that I would interfere with the democratic processes are a misplaced sign of unnecessary panic”

Suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule

To take things back, this is how it started: the ANC had suspended Magashule after he refused to step aside, in abidance to its step-aside policy, which directs members who face serious charges before the courts, to temporarily vacate office.

Magashule faces fraud, money laundering and corruption charges in connection to a R255 million asbestos tender in the Free State, which was awarded when he was premier, in 2014 – this means he was one of members, to which the policy applied.

Things then got complicated when he issued a letter of suspension to Ramaphosa (despite he being suspended himself). He contended that he was still the SG and would continue carrying out his duties, however the ANC dismissed this and reaffirmed his suspension, subsequently ordering him to apologise.