Staff Reporter
All the five regions of the ANC in the Free State have come out in support of party secretary general Ace Magashule saying he does not have to step aside despite the allegations of corruption that he is facing.
The ANC regional representatives from Lejweleputswa, Thabo Mofutsanyana, Fezile Dabi, Motheo and Xhariep held a virtual media briefing on Monday evening during which they reaffirmed their support for Magashule and warned that they will not stand by and watch him being pressured to step aside from his key position in the party.
“We have actually consulted broadly on this matter,” said ANC member Sizwe Radebe who read the press statement.
“And with certainty, one can say we are not representing our jackets, but the view of the entire province.
“The branches of the African National Congress have sent us to give this statement to South Africans.”
Soon after the media briefing, President Ramaphosa announced that the ANC had given Magashule and other senior party members facing criminal charges 30 days to voluntarily step aside or face suspension.
The Free State regional task teams met in the morning and came up with the position.
Radebe said in the statement that it has come to their knowledge that some members of the party’s National Executive Committee are determined to fight tooth and nail to remove Magashule from his position.
He said the move is part of efforts by people belonging to a faction led by Ramaphosa to hold on to power.
“Their quest is in lieu of the roadmap to CR17 desperate attempts (sic) to retain power in 2022. It’s an agenda set by the white monopoly capital cabal in 2017,” he alleged.
Radebe claimed it was the same group of people that funded Ramaphosa’s campaign for party presidency to the tune of R1 billion in 2017.
ANC provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko, who was not part of that media briefing, could not be reached at the time of publishing to establish if it was sanctioned by the province.
Magashule, who is the former premier of the Free State, is due to stand trial in the High Court in August together with several co-accused over a failed asbestos audit and removal project in the province.