When Ace Magashule was announced secretary-general of the ANC at the Nasrec conference in December 2017, President Cyril Ramaphosa couldn’t contain his disappointment. A shadow of doubt passed fleetingly on his face and as the total tally of Magashule’s numbers were confirmed, it appeared Ramaphosa had accepted defeat, the second most influential figure in his party’s top six leadership would be a man tainted by corruption and dubious tender deals. It has been three years since that fateful day and the country has watched as Magashule has craftily manoeuvred his way around the ruling party, outsmarting Ramaphosa on key resolutions such as the privatisation of the Reserve Bank. But could it be that Magashule’s day of reckoning has finally come? According to media reports, a highly placed source revealed Magashule’s warrant of arrest has been issued although this has been denied by the Hawks. – Bernice Maune.Â
By Bernice MauneÂ
A young Elias Sekgobelo Magashule was popular for his soccer skills that he soon went by the moniker Ace. He would keep himself preoccupied with drama and boxing until his involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle would see him immerse himself in student politics.
According to the ANC, Magashule was born in Tumahole a township in Parys in the Free State. While the website lists him as a founder member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in 1979, this has been disputed by Pieter-Louis Myburgh, who has penned an in-depth biography on him in the book Gangster State. The ANC goes on to state that Magashule was arrested and charged with high treason, spending nine months in solitary confinement in 1985. He spent a further five months in exile.
His mentors were apparently ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the late Chris Hani but there is no public record of them mentioning him. In 1990 after the ANC was unbanned, Magashule became the provincial chairperson of the region, holding that position until 2007 when he was elected into the ANC national executive committee. Two years later, Magashule ascended to the top position in the Free State, becoming the premier until 2017 when he beat Senzo Mchunu to the secretary-general role in the ANC.
Ace Magashule: Close relationship to Jacob Zuma, corruption and the Guptas
Magashule has been an avid supporter of former president Jacob Zuma and it is understood the former statesman introduced him to the Gupta brothers. Under his tenure as Free State Premier, the wealthy family entered into agreements to supply 4,000 newspapers to the provincial government in 2011.
In 2013, former Free State finance MEC Elzabe Rockman told the Zondo Commission that the Magashule had introduced her to the Guptas to partner with them on the Estina dairy farm project. That initiative was meant to empower 100 local farmers but ended with the department approving a contract worth R342m and paying R30m to Estina.
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Magashule apparently admitted to receiving monthly payments of R1m from Rajesh Gupta. This is according to Mxolisi Dukwana, a former economic development MEC in the Free State who testified at the state capture enquiry last year. The payments were in lieu of IT projects the Guptas wanted to embark on in the Free State.
In 2010, R1bn was allegedly rerouted into the purses of Magashule, Mosebenzi Zwane and a cohort of Free State housing officials. The national department of housing had set aside the funds to build 55,000 houses but less than 50 were built with R600m paid to contractors allegedly close to Magashule and Mosebenzi.
Another housing scandal which is said to have Magashule’s touch is unfolding with arrests having been made by the NPA and Hawks. The Free State paid R255m to Blackhead Consulting owned by Edwin Sodi, a businessman who allegedly paid bribes to Magashule and other ANC officials to secure the project. Sodi was supposed to have conducted an audit of houses that were built with asbestos roofs but he failed to complete the job and has been implicated in corruption and fraudulent activities.
Tenderpreneurship runs in the family
According to Polity.org, the Magashule family has benefitted from various tender deals with the most recent being Covid contracts awarded to Tshepiso Magashule, for R2.2m while Thato Magashule won a bid for R427,000. Other family members have done business with the state amounting to millions;
- A grass cutting tender for R300m was awarded to Ezekiel Magashule, younger brother to Ace
- Thoko Malembe bought a petrol station worth R9m through an alleged link to her father through the Free State Development Corporation
- Malembe, a 30% shareholder in Unity Holdings, received a R150m housing tender at the Vogelfontein Housing Development in Dihlabeng Municipality
Tension with Ramaphosa
The Daily Maverick cites three instances where Magashule outplayed Ramaphosa;
- In selecting his Cabinet, Ramaphosa leaned towards a slimmer executive with less deputy ministers but Magashule pushed for a bloated Cabinet and won.
- While Ramaphosa wanted to separate state and party by making the Union Buildings a strategic centre of power, Zuma’s allies seem to have swayed party opinion for the country to be effectively run from Luthuli House
- The South African Reserve Bank has been taken off the privatisation agenda by the ANC for now but Magashule tabled a document setting out goals to be implemented in the near future. It reads the Reserve Bank should be a focal point of growth and employment with a view to it printing money to help with the government’s debts.
Magashule has also not been shy to call out his boss, telling a rally the president was powerless in helping them get land.
“It is not President (Cyril) Ramaphosa who is going to give us the land or address the land issue. It must be addressed by all spheres, from local government, the district to national because the mayor, the mayoral committee and the councillors can give our people land,” he said.
