Johannesburg- Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s grip on his home province of the Free State is flattering after one of his key allies and chief whip in the legislature Vusi Tshabalala was this week suspended.
The ANC’s Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) accused Tshabalala of rallying behind independent candidates and campaigning for rival political parties.
Speaking to Sunday World, IPC spokesperson Oupa Khoabane said, the IPC took a distinctive decision to suspend Tshabalala as he is suspected to be rallying behind opposition parties.
The committee is comprised of premier Sisi Ntombela, IPC convener Mxolisi Dukwana and IPC coordinator Paseka Nompondo, all seen to be in the President Cyril Ramaphosa camp in the lead up to the party’s elective conference next year.
“He is accused of supporting independent candidates for the upcoming local government elections, something that goes against ANC’s policies,” said Khoabane.
Following his suspension, Tshabalala hit back by saying that his suspension is politically motivated by a faction that is against staunch supporters of suspended ANC Secretary-General, Ace Magashule.
“The context of the letter didn’t entail what I have done wrong, I am shocked with what these people have done by suspending me,” he says.
“They are playing political mind games, this is a faction that is against Jacob Zuma and Ace Magashule, this is the reason they woke up in the morning and took a decision to suspend me,” says Tshabalala.
Furthermore, Tshabalala added that the IPC led by Dukwana, has been undermining the leadership of ANC, and he believes he’s the one sabotaging the provincial committee. Dukwana, who testified against Magashule at the Zondo Commission is a known Ramaphosa ally.
Tshabalala is no stranger to controversy. He was sacked as mayor of the troubled Maluti-A-Phofung in 2018.
This was after the municipality which was placed under Sec 139(1)b administration by the MEC in February of that year and was stripped of its assets by the sheriff of the court in a legal wrangle with Eskom which is owed about R3 billion.
He was later “promoted” to the position of Chief Whip of the Free State Legislature following the 2019 general elections.
Tshabalala’s suspension follows the sacking of another Magashule ally Sam Mashinini as MEC for Police, Roads and Transport.
The provincial executive committee led by Mashinini was dissolved after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in March.
The Dukwana led IPC has since dissolved the province’s five regions, another move seen to have weakened Magashule’s hand. Dukwana was last week appointed as a Cooperative Governance MEC, staging a dramatic comeback after then-premier-Magashule fired him as economic development MEC in 2012.
Sunday World reported in April that moves were afoot to sack Mashinini from the provincial executive after a WhatsApp from Ntombela was leaked to the paper.
“…Ok, this one next to me [Mashinini] must go. I have decided. Waiting to discuss with the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] and Jessie [Duarte, ANC deputy secretary-general],” reads the WhatsApp.
Ntombela made the comments on the occasion of the budget speeches of various MECs in the province, while Mashinini was seated next to her.
For more political news and views from this week’s newspaper, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
