ANC gathers for 110th birthday under pressure from state capture findings
African National Congress (ANC) members have begun gathering for this weekend’s 110th birthday celebrations in Polokwane.
But the gathering comes at a time when the governing party is under pressure due to the findings of the state capture commission.
Added to this, 2021 was an unprecedented year for the ANC, which saw the party drawing a line between itself and its secretary-general, Ace Magashule.
Magashule, who ran an office best described as the engine of the former liberation movement, was among those summarily suspended in May after failing to step aside.
With Magashule’s long history in politics, this phone call to Eyewitness News can undoubtedly be described as one of his lowest moments.
“Nothing is going on with me, I’m still the secretary-general,” he said.
Just hours before making this call, the ANC’s secretary-general had received a letter from the party informing him of his suspension.
The sanction meant that Magashule could not make public utterances about the ANC, address its members, perform any of his official duties or mobilize structures of the organization, terms which he continues to mostly disregard.
But he also managed to get himself into hot water when he issued an unauthorised suspension letter to party president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
His deputy, Jessie Duarte, explained how the ANC responded to this act.
“This letter that suspends a sitting president in a manner that it was done could have had many repercussions – poeple started calling from other countries to verify,” Duarte said.
Magashule refused to apologise, instead of taking the ANC to court, an act which shocked some of his comrades, with Ramaphosa also sharing his thoughts on the move with journalists.
The embattled secretary-general lost the case to the ANC but has since taken that fight to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
At the same time, he is fighting the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), trying to wrangle himself free from the asbestos charges in the Free State.
Magashule has launched a court bid, asking the High Court to declare that there is no prima facie case against him.
He has maintained that he’s done nothing wrong.
While the suspended secretary-general awaits both his corruption case and a date from the SCA over his fight with the ANC, he has not been quietly sitting at home.
Just this month, he spoke at an alternative uMkhonto we Sizwe anniversary celebration.
Magashule has also been spotted numerous times meeting with ANC members, mostly around KwaZulu-Natal, with insiders claiming that he is hard at work with 2022 in mind and has been said to be working the ANC’s branches ahead of its 2022 elective conference next year.
-EWN
In other news – Faith Nketsi’s real age shocks South Africa
Reality TV star Faith Nketsi recently took to her social media pages to share pictures from her birthday. Her followers and fans wished her well though many were a bit shocked and confused after realizing that the TV star looks older than her real age.
Through the reactions from Twitter, it appears many thought Faith Nketsi was at least 30 years old. Learn More
