JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2021) OHANNESBURG, February 21 (Sputnik), Thabiso Lehoko - The only way to remove Ace Magashule from the position of the secretary general of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party is through a democratic process by the branches of the ANC, Carl Niehaus, spokesman for the uMkhonto we Sizwe military veterans association, told Sputnik.
The ANC is facing a challenge whereby Magashule, who has been charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering, is not heeding a resolution to step down, made at the 54th National Conference of the ANC. Yet, in-grain party loyalists believe this is nothing but a smear campaign aimed at destabilizing the ruling party, while staunch supporters of the party leader maintain that the 21 charges leveled against him will not taint the party and the country's image in the international arena.
"This is very important because the position of the secretary general within the ANC is an elected position. It was the delegates coming from the branches of the ANC who determined the election of comrade Ace Magashule as the SG [secretary general] of the ANC. Honoring this democratic tradition of the ANC is absolutely critical. And that is why we have maintained throughout that there is no other way that the SG of the ANC and in fact any other elected official of the ANC can be removed except for being removed through a democratic process by the branches of the ANC," Niehaus said.
According to Niehaus, the charges against Magashule themselves are not a challenge to the survival of the ruling party, which, within this context, has to abide and honor the very basic constitutional tenant that every citizen in this country has the constitutional right to be regarded as innocent until proven guilty in a proper court of law. Any attempt to push anyone, including Magashule, to step aside on the basis of allegations and charges would be unconstitutional and entirely unacceptable.
"You would recall that comrade Ace Magashule had on a number of times indicated that he has been elected and placed in the position of secretary general by the branches and that ultimately it is the branches and only the branches who can remove him," the expert added.
Niehaus also said that these charges would be dealt with in a court of law, adding that the challenge facing the ANC has to do with managing the political environment around these charges properly, as the debate around the thorny issue is sowing divisions within the party.�
"If any impression is created that these charges are being used in conjunction with the stepping aside resolution ... in order to specifically target a particular political individual because of the views that he holds specifically with regards to radical economic transformation, and those who oppose him are trying to use the charges in conjunction with the stepping aside resolution to remove him from the political scene, then a very dangerous situation will develop," Niehaus added.
Meanwhile, political analyst Ralph Mathekga told Sputnik that the charges against Magashule would only damage the country's international image, adding that the ANC is a lost political formation.
"The charges against Magashule are very bad and the paint South Africa badly internationally. The confusion it is currently going through is detaching itself from servicing its core mandate. Besides, the ANC is slowly losing its grip on power and the divisions in the party are leading it to not being able to ... control its senior members, who defy it and the supreme law of the land," Mathekga said.�
The right-wing opposition Democratic Alliance also believes that this is not good for South Africa's reputation in the international arena, party member Darren Berkman told Sputnik, adding that Magashule risks the country's potential to be well placed on the map.
"The charges against Ace Magashule are serious and his utterances against the constitution and support for others that seem to be on the wrong side of the law is worrisome and not the right signal for direct foreign investment and halting the brain drain from our shores," Berkman said.
Magashule and eight others are implicated in embezzling state funds relating to the multimillion rand asbestos roofing contract. The state prosecutors have put it to Magashule that between 2015 and 2016, he benefited from unlawful payments of more than 1 million rand ($68,245).� He was charged late last year at the Bloemfontein Magistrates court and released on a 200,000 rand bail. He appeared before the court again on Friday and the matter was postponed to August this year.
