Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and former party president Jacob Zuma are headed for a serious political fallout over Zuma’s insistence that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma be the face of the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction’s campaign to unseat President Cyril Ramaphosa as party president.
It has emerged Magashule and his supporters are planning another meeting following the one held in September, with the former president to inform him that they are throwing their weight behind embattled former health minister Zweli Mkhize as their candidate for the ANC presidency instead of Dlamini-Zuma.
Magashule was conspicuous by his absence at the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week, where Zuma embarked on a private prosecution of state prosecutor Billy Downer SC and journalist Karyn Maughan, whom he accuses of leaking his private medical records.
Magashule’s failure to attend and support Zuma in court was, according to ANC insiders, a first indication of the widening schism between the two political allies who share a strong opposition to Ramaphosa’s leadership of the governing party.
A close working relationship between Magashule and Mkhize is said to have taken shape, a development that is believed to have angered Zuma and some of his allies as it has resulted in the realignment of forces in the RET faction.
Zuma, who is opposed to Mkhize’s candidacy, is said to believe that the former health minister, who used to be one of his close confidantes, ditched him after he was ousted as president by the ANC until Mkhize himself fell out of favour with Ramaphosa.
On Thursday last week, just three days before Zuma headed to the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Magashule and Mkhize’s camps are believed to have held a secret caucus meeting in Johannesburg.
Sphiwe Blose, Mkhize’s chief lobbyist, confirmed the meeting, but would not reveal the place and the identities of those who attended.
“Comrades from the Free State indicated to us that we should meet and strengthen the campaign. The popular view is that comrade Khabazela (Mkhize) should be the face of the campaign.
“Our fixation is not on a particular slate, but ours is to make sure that all branches, in terms of their views and leadership preferences, are accommodated,” he added.
Blose noted they did not rule out the possibility of extending an olive branch to Dlamini-Zuma to ensure KwaZulu-Natal goes to the December conference united.
Reliable sources in key provinces such as KZN, Eastern Cape, North West and the party’s Luthuli House headquarters have traced cracks between Zuma and Magashule’s relationship, which they say became more palpable when Zuma told a delegation of senior ANC leaders loyal to him during a meeting in September, that he preferred Dlamini-Zuma, his former wife, to again contest Ramaphosa for the ANC presidency.
She narrowly lost to Ramaphosa in the previous ANC elective conference in 2017.
One of the leaders who attended the meeting, held at the former president’s Nkandla homestead, said they told Zuma they would not endorse Dlamini-Zuma until branch nominations have begun and a clearer picture of the process has unfolded.
The leader, a key ally of Magashule, said they were now planning to take another trip to Nkandla to formally inform Zuma that they would not be supporting his ANC succession plans.
“We have agreed that we must go back to him in Nkandla. The idea is to tell him that we don’t support his candidate. We tried NDZ (Dlamini-Zuma) in 2017, when the Zumas had power. What more now when they are out of power?
“The ANC is not ready for a female president. If we field a woman, it will be a free run for CR (Ramaphosa).
“If the old man (Zuma) wants to become ANC national chairperson and NDZ president, it will be like we are going to lose without a fight. Zweli is gaining traction.
“Everybody who is anti-Ramaphosa is rallying behind Zweli,” the leader added.
The ANC’s KZN provincial executive committee (PEC) is supporting Mkhize as its preferred candidate to challenge Ramaphosa. This after the party’s biggest region in terms of membership, eThekwini, announced Mkhize (who is also former party treasurer-general) as their choice for the ANC presidency.
Magashule’s ally said it was unfair for Zuma and his supporters to be upset with the former Free State strongman, especially as he is busy fighting for his political life after being suspended by the party and forced to step aside from political office.
Magashule and 18 others are facing a corruption trial linked to the R250-million Free State asbestos saga, while Mkhize is fighting to clear his name after he was deeply implicated by the Special Investigating Unit in the R155-million Digital Vibes scandal.
An RET campaigner in eThekwini region said the fallout between Magashule and Zuma was a long time coming.
“Remember when NDZ (Dlamini Zuma) lost the 2017 elective conference; all hopes were pinned on the SG (Magashule) that he would resuscitate the campaign (to oust Ramaphosa). But he proved to be the weakest link.
“We didn’t have a solid strategy or campaign until comrade Khabazela (Mkhize) emerged from nowhere. We now have to rally behind him because there’s no other candidate who can put up a good fight against CR (Ramaphosa).”
A PEC leader in KZN said the province had bet on the wrong horse (Magashule).
“We had our doubts from the beginning but because comrade Msholozi (Zuma) embraced the SG (Magashule), we felt duty bound to align with him. But he made a blunder when he publicly took on CR instead of fighting from inside because he controlled the office of the secretariat.
“He behaved as an immature politician and gave CR (Ramaphosa) ammunition, and he lost the key office as a result. The RET was weakened and only KZN remained strong.”
When asked for comment Magashule did not respond to specific questions.
“I have met with everyone and there’s no particular individual that I’m pushing. Branches are the ones who will decide on the type of leadership they want,” he said.
“So the question of fallout between myself and Msholozi does not arise because we are still on solid ground.
“We even recently visited President Zuma”.
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