African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Ace Magashule says he is considering legal steps following allegations of corruption against him contained in a new book.
The book, Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule’s web of Capture, alleges that Magashule engaged in illegal dealings during his tenure as Free State premier.
The ruling party has since come out strongly in Magashule’s defence.
Magashule addressed the media at the St George’s hotel outside Irene.
He has also confirmed that the party list presented to the Independent Electoral Commission in March, has not been tampered with.
The Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba earlier had accused Magashule of changing the list which has names of candidates who will be deployed to Parliament and the legislature after 8 May polls.
The list has been criticised by many including the ANC veterans and stalwarts. Magashule says no list was changed.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State has called on the Zondo Commission of Inquiry to summon Magashule, who has been implicated in the book.
DA provincial leader Patricia Kopane says they will hand over other information to the Commission to add to the dossier they had already submitted on Magashule’s work while he was Premier.
Kopane says some of the information in the book has already been reported to various police agencies.
“We will refer this information including a copy of this lease agreement and the photos like I indicated of the unoccupied building still being renovated to the Zondo Commission. Our hope is of this commission is to summon Ace Magashule to come and testify before the commission. This information along with the revelation of this past weekend unfortunately clearly shows that the people of the Free State have been failed by the police, definitely. Because we reported this matter to the police, the Hawks, myself. I did have private meetings with the Hawks and reported this matter but nothing happened over the years.”
The ANC National Executive Committee is currently locked in a special meeting in Irene, outside Pretoria.
The meeting is aimed at deliberating on the party’s election campaign so far, as well as well as its Parliamentary candidates’ list.
The meeting of the ANC’s highest decision-making body is expected to also tackle allegations that its Secretary-General Ace tampered with the list, which he has denied.
“Of course the ANC list has attracted bad headlines but that’s not unusual. You cannot expect a pig to give birth to a peacock. What is happening with the ANC is typical because of the problems that they had but it’s surprising especially because the list has been rigged. The ANC would have had a copy of the list they deemed official when Magashule left Luthuli House to the IEC. The image of the party is tainted,” says Political Analyst Professor Mcebisi Ndletyana
