TOP STORY: Magashule plays Ace card, suspending ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa.
DEVELOPING: The
Secretary-General (SG) for the African National Congress (ANC) has challenged
his suspension through a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa; furthermore
suspending the president from his role as ANC president.
“I herewith announce that I am immediately, and formally,
appealing this unconstitutional suspension. In terms of the ANC Constitution,
my suspension is thus wholly suspended, until my appeal has been heard, and
it’s final outcome announced,” Magashule declared in his two page statement
leaked to social media late in the evening of Wednesday, 5 May 2021.
Magashule, in the statement, additionally issued a
suspension to the president.
“This is done in terms of Resolution 8.2 of the 54th
National Conference, which states that, ‘Every cadre accused of, or reported to
be involved in, corrupt practices accounts to the Integrity Committee
immediately, or faces DC processes….,and Resolution 8.3 that further provides
for the suspension of, “… people who fail to give an acceptable explanation, or
to voluntarily step down while they face disciplinary, investigative or
prosecutorial procedures”,” the suspended SG wrote.
The ANC came out in full retaliation by Thursday morning,
with top party officials going so far as to refute that the suspended SG has
any authority to suspend the president of the ANC, or reverse his own
suspension.
ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe told South African
print powerhouse Mail&Guardian
that Magashule acted independently of party structures through the letter.
“[Magashule] makes a decision at his home alone and writes
to the president. That is not how decisions are made in an organisation,”
Mantashe responded, dismissing the SG’s move as bearing ‘no consequence’ to the
party. “This is an organisation. You
don’t wake up angry and take a decision and communicate it.”
In a darker response to the turn of events, ANC Veteran
Mavuso Msimang told Morning Live that
Magashule has “signed his death warrant, if the ANC is what I know it to be” –
which could mean anything from assassination to, simply, the end of Magashule’s
political career in South Africa.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe added that the letter by
the SG is noted:
imploring that the cadre “… respect the decisions of the NEC and subject
himself to the discipline of the organisation.”
South Africans spare no quarter in voicing their opinions on
social media, taking to Twitter under the #AceSuspendsCyril
topic trending on the digital platform as the story develops.
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