Plans to oust Free State Premier Ace Magashule as provincial ANC chairperson took on a new twist this week after a “secret” document painting a bleak future for the ANC in the province under his leadership came to light.
The document, which was purportedly written by “patriots” in the Free State, comes hot on the heels of a damning report by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe. His report found that there is not a single ANC branch in the Free State in good standing, and that there are simmering tensions in the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC).
Magashule has dismissed Mantashe’s report as failing to reflect the real picture, according to a PEC member close to him.
The document by the provincial “patriots” claims that branches in the Free State are weak because their regional leaders are “duplicates” of Magashule.
“[The] ANC [in the Free State] is even in bigger trouble than we all thought,” says the document, which has come into the possession of the Mail & Guardian.
“We are possibly just left with nothing but a duplicate of Magashules in all branch chairpersons and/or secretaries. We have reason to be very afraid of the future,” it says.
“We then said to ourselves, maybe we should start a campaign in the ANC that says no branch, region or provincial chairperson must be allowed to serve more than two terms.”
Free State ANC secretary Sibongile Besani said he had not seen the document and could not, therefore, comment on its contents.
Magashule, who played an important role in Zuma’s rise to power at the 2007 Polokwane conference, is facing a rebellion in the Lejweleputswa and Thabo Mofutsanyana regions, where members are calling for a change of leadership at next year’s Free State ANC conference, scheduled for June.
Both regions were recently disbanded by the PEC over allegations of factionalism, internal divisions and infighting. The regional leaders had previously resigned in a gesture of protest against provincial structures.
According to Besani, the infighting in the regions was mainly sparked by disputed ANC candidate lists during the local government elections.
“The regional leaders were not working together as one,” said Besani. “Their resignations were based on factionalism. We do have problems, as mentioned by Mantashe in his report.”
The removal of Magashule at next year’s provincial conference could spell disaster for Zuma’s bid for a second term when the ruling party goes to its crucial elective conference in December 2012.
Several ANC leaders in the regions said that Magashule would be replaced by Besani, while Besani’s supporters plan to persuade former ANC Youth League leader Saki Mofokeng to stand for the secretary general’s position uncontested.
The duel between Magashule and Besani is set to be played out at upcoming regional conferences in the Free State scheduled for November.
Magashule is the longest-serving ANC provincial chairperson. He is unquestionably popular at grassroots level, but has lost some support after alienating certain key ANC members in the Free State government and the party.
On Thursday, Besani denied being approached by ANC members who want him to replace Magashule as provincial chairperson.
“Nobody has approached me to challenge Ace,” said Besani. “It’s not true. Even at the PEC meeting nobody asked me to challenge him.”