Staff Reporter
The ANC on Wednesday night moved swiftly to dismiss a letter written by suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule to party president Cyril Ramaphosa notifying him of his own suspension, saying he has no powers to do so.
In the leaked letter, Magashule purportedly wrote to Ramaphosa saying he was suspending him in connection with the sealed CR17 bank statements.
However, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said the party was aware of Magashule’s letter to the president but warned that decisions made by party structures cannot be reversed by individuals.
“The decisions of the National Executive Committee and National Working Committee stand,” Mabe said in a statement released late Wednesday.
“The NEC will be meeting over the weekend and will accordingly respond to the secretary-general. The ANC requests that the secretary-general respects the decisions of the NEC and subject himself to the discipline of the organisation,” he added.
A few hours earlier, a media statement was doing the rounds on social media which claimed Magashule had appealed his suspension on the grounds that the process was unconstitutional and was done along factional lines as it only affected certain party leaders.
However, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe was quoted by Times Live saying decisions in the ANC are taken by structures and not individuals.
He said the letter said to be coming from Magashule informing Ramaphosa of his suspension was therefore of no consequence.
“Decisions in the ANC are taken by structures and not individuals,” said Mantashe, adding that even if the letter was authentic, Magashule had no powers to suspend Ramaphosa.
“(The intention) is to cause confusion and he (Magashule) is doing someone’s bidding,” said Mantashe without elaborating on whose instruction Magashule was acting.
“You can’t take decisions on your own in an organisation. It has no consequence.
“You can’t as an individual write a letter suspending another letter. It means I can also write a letter to somebody else to suspend him.
“There is no organisation that operates in such a manner.”
Mantashe claimed Magashule had not raised any objections to his suspension and that of other members when he attended a meeting of the NWC on Monday where the decision was finalised.
Magashule was suspended through a letter dated May 3, 2021 and signed by the party’s deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte.
In the letter, Duarte told Magashule that he had failed to abide by a decision of the NEC passed at the end of March which said all party leaders who have been formally charged for corruption and other serious crimes should step aside within 30 days.
The suspension means Magashule, who faces corruption charges in a failed asbestos audit and removal project in the Free State, may not be involved in any party activities until his case has been finalised.