President Cyril Ramaphosa says tomorrow's national working committee meeting of the ANC will have to deal with suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule's defiance of the national executive committee (NEC) instruction for him to apologise for "suspending" the president.
Ramaphosa told journalists yesterday, on the sidelines of a government event in Limpopo, that it was "a big surprise" for a secretary-general of the ANC to take "his own organisation" to court to have his suspension reversed.
Ramaphosa's backers, who are in the majority, want the national working committee to bring charges against Magashule for refusing to apologise for writing to Ramaphosa, suspending the president.
The last NEC meeting confirmed Magashule's suspension and gave the secretary-general 48 hours to apologise. If not, he would face disciplinary action.
Instead, Magashule headed to court to have his suspension ruled unlawful. Magashule also challenged the powers of the NEC, saying the highest decision-making body between party conferences did not have the authority to amend resolutions of the national conference. He argued that the NEC decision on stepping aside had been narrowed to target only those who were facing criminal charges.
Magashule appointed Dali Mpofu to defend him. The ANC hired Wim Trengove.
The Ramaphosa group is expected to push for Magashule to face more charges for addressing an ANC-organised mini-rally outside the Pietermaritzburg high court during Jacob Zuma's court appearance this week.
The group said Magashule's actions contravened his suspension conditions, which state that he is barred from participating in or addressing party events.
When asked about Magashule's defiance, Ramaphosa said: "Well, the secretary-general is suspended in terms of the NEC decision and he has decided to challenge that decision by taking his own organisation to court, as well as a number of leaders, including myself. So we must await that process to work itself through, and as regards his refusal to abide by the decision by the NEC, that is a matter that is currently being looked at by the organisation, officials and the national working committee.
For a secretary-general to decide to take his own organisation to court and to question the constitutionality of the very constitution that he's been implementing and adhering to is a big surprise
— President Cyril Ramaphosa
"We'd rather be careful and very correct in the way that we do things. So allow us the time and the space to be able to do these things as well as we should do them."
Ramaphosa said he reacted with surprise to the news that Magashule had taken the ANC to court.
"For a secretary-general to decide to take his own organisation to court and to question the constitutionality of the very constitution that he's been implementing and adhering to is a big surprise. So this is unprecedented but we will obviously need to go through that. The matter is now sub judice and we must let the process run its full course."
Members of the national working committee aligned to the Ramaphosa faction told the Sunday Times that the committee would have to make a decision to effect disciplinary action against Magashule.
One of leaders said the committee was the implementing body of decisions taken by the NEC, which had taken a decision that Magashule should face disciplinary action if he failed to apologise.
"No, no, no, the court case doesn't do that [halt internal processes]. Remember that the ANC is an organisation of process. The ANC has taken a decision that you'll have to apologise. If you don't apologise within so many days, the ANC will then have to take action," said the committee member.
"Remember the apology was not going to be taking place in a meeting situation; it was going to take place outside a meeting, out in the public. So the ANC would now have noted that, OK, out in the public there is no apology. So the SGO [secretary-general's office] is monitoring. Now when we go to the meeting, the SGO, because they are effectively the executing body, so they will come and say, an apology has not been made. Then the structure [will] say, OK, let's now activate our decision [to institute disciplinary action]."
He said the working committee had powers to implement discipline.
"When we took a decision as the national working committee to effect the decision of the NEC that if you have not stepped aside in 30 days, we hit with you 25.70. We were given those powers by the NEC, so we didn't need to go back to the NEC," he said.
Magashule could not be reached for comment yesterday.
ANC acting secretary-general Jessie Duarte did not take questions on what steps the party would take against Magashule. She spoke to journalists after receiving her Covid-19 vaccine at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Friday.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.