The ANC is now so dogged by infighting that it may be unable to function, no matter whether Secretary-General Ace Magashule stays or goes - and this will only get worse in the run-up to the local government elections next year.

As the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) prepares to meet in 10 days' time, it is clear that the dominating dynamic in the governing party is whether or not Ace Magashule will step aside as its secretary-general.

This issue is likely to inflame passions and divisions within the ANC. However, this is not a binary matter - it is about much more than simply deciding whether he stays or he goes. Either way, the scene is being set for the ANC to end next year, 2021, even more battered than it is now.

On Sunday the City Press newspaper reported that Magashule's personal assistant denied that she had agreed to turn State witness against him.

The announcement by prosecutors during Magashule's court appearance that she was going to give evidence was a major development as it appeared to signal that he was not going to find an easy way out of the criminal charges.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)...